Revenge Isn't Always Sweet
by KennedyCarter12
Summary: JJ and Garcia are kidnapped and held hostage while the team fights to save them. They have a time limit of a week, and while they search, they are left with video feed of the horror the girls are going through. Eventually M/G, H/P, JJ/Spencer or Rossi
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** There isn't an exact timeline for this, probably just somewhere in S3 because Rossi is there. There is no Will though. The relationships aren't clear in the beginning, but they will eventually pan out in later chapters. It will definitely be **Garcia/Morgan**, **Emily/Hotch**, and **JJ/Rossi OR Spencer.** Your opinion on that would be appreciated, especially because this is probably going to be JJ centric, so who do ya'll want her with in the end?

"JJ, please wake up. I can't do this alone. JJ!" Garcia kept kicking JJ, trying to wake her pale, blonde friend up. She didn't know where they were or how they got there. The only thing Garcia knew was that she was completely terrified and she didn't want to sit alone in the almost completely dark room any longer. Plus, the fact that JJ still hadn't woken up made Garcia worry even more.

"WAKE UP!" Garcia screamed in between sobs. She was officially growing close to becoming hysterical.

JJ finally moaned, and shifted just a bit. She blinked her eyes a few times trying to register where she was and who was sobbing next to her. She sat up slowly thinking she had a headache from hell. Her eyes grew adjusted to the darkness and she could make out Garcia sobbing to the right of her. JJ tried to reach out to her, but was quickly denied because of the shackles around her wrists that lead into the cement wall behind her. JJ quickly realized why her best friend was in an emotional heap. Something was very, very wrong.

"Pen, you have to stop crying. I can't understand you if you're crying. Take a deep breath and calm down." JJ said, trying to soothe her friend off the ledge of hysterics.

"I- I can't. I've been s-s-sitting her alone! I thought you were dead!" Garcia sobbed, giving up on trying to regain control of her emotions. "He is g-going to kill us!"

JJ's breath caught in her throat and her eyes searched the dark, humid room, looking for any sign of a lurking man. She swept the room a few times, not trusting the skill of her eyes in the dark. Garcia obviously remembered much more than she did.

"Who, Pen? Who is going to kill us? How did we get here? I know it's scary, but we aren't going to help ourselves by being a wreck. We have to remain calm." JJ said, feeling like she was talking to a victim on a case. To be completely honest, JJ wanted to start screaming and crying herself, she was scared to death, but she couldn't break down for Garcia. JJ didn't see these kinds of things often, but she was trained to be in this sort of situation, and Garcia wasn't. She had to remain strong for Garcia.

"I don't know!" Garcia wailed, her sobbing subsiding, but her tears and sniffling still prominent. "I just remember the bar! We were playing pool, and then Hotch called you, so you went outside. After awhile, I went to get you, then I just don't remember anything! It's blank after that!"

JJ took a deep breath, trying to remember. She closed her eyes and tried to picture the bar. Garcia begged the whole team to come out, but they all had better things to do. They just gotten off a rough case and they wanted to see their families or friends or hell, their own beds. JJ saw the disappointed look on the technical analyst's face, and gave in. A few drinks wouldn't hurt. She remembered only having two drinks, and she wasn't drunk by any means. They were having a fun game of pool, technically not much of a game because Garcia had no idea what she was doing. The inevitable ring off her phone took her outside, where Hotch was trying to tell her something, but she just couldn't remember. What was he telling her? After stepping outside, everything was blank, just like Garcia's memory.

"Penelope, you said _he_ is going to kill us. Who is he and why do you think that? Did you talk to him? What happened when you woke up?" JJ asked, nearly kicking herself for asking too many questions too quickly. She didn't want to overwhelm her friend when she was in such a fragile state.

"I, I woke up and I was in here." She began, gesturing to the room they were in. "You w-weren't here, yet. I was all by myself. I thought you were.. were.." Garcia drew a deep breath and wiped the tears from her face that were rapidly falling. "I heard a door open from over there, "she said, pointing to the front of the room, "and the light nearly blinded me. A man came in with you thrown over his shoulder. I started to scream and he just l-laughed. He j-just dropped you on the ground next to me, and told me all the screaming in the world wasn't going to save our lives. He then bent down and kissed you on the cheek, and ran his hand up my arm a-and chained us up then left."

JJ couldn't help but shiver. The room was humid and musky, but it didn't stop her arms and legs from being infiltrated with goosebumps. Her eyes started to swim in water, but she blinked it back. She would not cry and she would scare Garcia. She had to be the strong one here.

"Okay. Well, keep thinking. You might remember something else."

Garcia looked at JJ in horror. "H-how are you being so, so calm about this? WE ARE CHAINED IN SOME FREAKY BASEMENT, JAYJE! SOME MAN WANTS TO KILL US! HOW ARE YOU NOT SCARED?"

JJ winced as her best friend shouted at her, the fear so visible in her voice. "Pen, please, just calm down. We can't afford to freak out and be irrational right now. If we want to get out of here in one piece, we have to be smart and collected. I know you're scared, I am too, I am terrified, but you need to kick into survival mode, and get ready because I have a feeling this is going to get worse before it gets better."

"I can't be calm! How do you expect me to be calm? We have been kidnapped! Nobody knows where we are! We can't even move because were chained into the darn cement! Nothing about this is okay, JJ! I'm not made for this, I'm not an agent. I sit in a cave all day!" Garcia couldn't finish her ranting because her tears started to overwhelm her again.

"Pen? Pen? PENELOPE!" No matter how loud JJ yelled, she couldn't get back Garcia's attention. She kicked her lightly, trying to get her to snap out of her hysterical state but, Garcia wasn't phased. JJ decided to momentarily give up and study the room again. Now that her eyes were more adjusted to the darkness, she got a better layout of the place, but saw nothing that would be of any help. They were in a completely empty room. There was no furniture, appliances, or lamps. It was empty, stuffy, and made up of cement. She had no idea where they were, but prayed that the team was looking for them, because if they weren't, this wasn't going to end nicely.

JJ left a single tear fall down her face and wiped it away quickly. She told herself that was the only tear that was allowed to be shed for the rest of her stay in the lovely cement room. She wasn't going to give the satisfaction to the man who took her and she wasn't going to instill that fear in Garcia.

"Jayje?" Garcia asked, in such an innocent tone it made JJ's heartbreak.

"Yeah, Garcie?"

A tearful Garcia stared at JJ for a brief few moments before she replied. "I'm scared."


	2. Chapter 2

Aaron Hotchner marched into the "war room" with a fury that the team had never seen. They just returned from a horrific case in Idaho, and obviously none of them were pleased to be back in the BAU offices just hours after landing. The team didn't know what put Hotch in such a frenzy that he couldn't wait til morning, but whatever it was, must be damn important.

"We have a serious issue." Hotch said, his emotionless face looking even more stern that usual, well, if that was even possible.

Emily sighed. "Well, I'd hope it's a serious case since it couldn't wait til morning, Hotch."

"Yeah, seriously, what gives? And where is JJ?" Morgan asked, the agitation very clear in his tone.

The Unit Chief let out a low growl under his breath and looked to Rossi and Reid to see if they had any snide remark they wanted to add before he continued. When he saw the "I'm not saying a word" expression on their faces, he continued, trying to keep his voice in control.

Hotch clicked the remote, causing a video feed to appear on the screen. "This is our serious issue, and we don't have a lot of time to figure it out."

Rossi stood up abruptly, knocking is chair over in the process. He walked over to the screen, giving his eyes a better look. When the video first appeared on the screen, he thought his old eyes were playing tricks on him, but he was sadly mistaken. Though it was dark, the camera being used was obviously high tech with some sort of night vision built in. A very shaky Penelope Garcia and a stiff Jennifer Jareau were on their projector screen, clear as day, chained up and terrified.

"What the hell is that?" Morgan hollered, pointing at the screen. "What the hell is that, Hotch?"

Reid simply stared at the screen in utter confusion. For once in his short years of life, he was rendered completely speechless.

"That," Hotch said, his voice ice cold, "is two of our own in an ungodly situation."

"This video, is it live?" Emily asked, hoping her tone didn't sound as scared and timid as she felt. Her two best friends were plastered on the screen in front of her, and even though she compartmentalized better than anyone she knew, this was an image that wasn't going to be put away in a little box inside her head. This was something that would replay in her mind over and over again.

"I don't know." Hotch said, disappointed he didn't know more. "I'm getting another technical analyst on it now. I can only assume it's live since I talked to JJ only an hour ago."

"What did she say?" Rossi asked, his voice void of any emotion.

Hotch sighed, not wanting to give his team the rest of the information. "She answered the phone telling me to hold on because the bar was too loud. She didn't give me a chance to tell her to get out. Once she was outside, she put the phone back to her ear and I was yelling at her to get her and Garcia out of there, but the phone went dead. I don't even know if she heard me."

"Why were you telling her to get out?" Reid asked, confused by their Unit Chief's quizzical tale.

Hotch flipped the remote again, taking away the video feed and replacing it with a picture and a message. "Because just moments before I called JJ, I received this email."

Dearest mind reading team called the BAU,  
Is everything the people say about you really true?  
It is, I know first hand, you read people's minds and kill them too!  
I'm sick of your rules and I think your all due,  
to pay for the lives you've ruined, and they're more than a few.  
We now go by my rules, which means I take your precious blonde two,  
and just to be fair, I'm leaving you this simple, well thought out clue.  
Time is running out, and I have video to prove it true,  
I'm giving you a week before I turn your blonde friends blue.  
Good luck super agents, it's an unlucky hand your teammates drew,  
but if you're so good, hopefully you'll find them before their bodies find you.  
Sincerely yours,  
The Avenger

Along with the email, attached was a picture of Garcia and JJ laughing and having a good time at a pool table, but it was edited over, causing the once happy looking picture to be mutilated with red photo shop.

"Now, I received that email at approximately 9:47 tonight. I called JJ immediately, but I don't think she ever heard me. The video feed arrived to my email at 10:43, which means that the unsub has them somewhere in the area. They aren't far from Rocko's bar, which gives us a good chance of finding them. They area is limited. According to the unsub, we have seven days to find them, but I don't care how much time he says we have, we need to find them tonight." Hotch said, turning the screen back to the video feed.

"We need the technical analyst to trace your email and see if he can get a trace off the video feed." Reid stated, staring at the screen wide eyed.

Hotch nodded. "He is already informed and will let us know immediately when he finds something." He turned back and looked at his two teammates on the screen and sighed. This wasn't happening. This team had been through way too much for this to be happening. "Prentiss, Morgan, go to the bar, and search it everywhere and question everybody. Lock it down when you go in. I want answers. Somebody had to see something."

Morgan stood up, feeling sick to his stomach. His two favorite girls were chained up like animals. Garcia was obviously crying and JJ looked lost. He was glad Hotch told him to go the bar because he didn't think he could stand to stare at the screen any longer.

"Reid, I want you to study this email. Figure out what he is trying to tell us. There is more to this little poem than meets the eye and I want you to decipher it. We are missing something."

Reid picked up the hard copy of the letter and scuttled down to his desk. He needed absolute silence if he was going to work diligently and effectively. This note could quite possible hold the answers to the case. It could save JJ and Garcia's lives.

Hotch turned to the only remaining person in the room. "Rossi, I need you to sit here with me and watch the video unfold. Every single detail counts."

Rossi nodded at the request, but mentally wished he had another job. After all the things he stomached in his fifty four years of life, he knew this would probably be the worst thing he had ever seen. Hell, they weren't technically even harmed yet, and it was already too much. This was his teammates, his family. This was just too much. This was why he left the damned job in the first place.

As he studied the screen, he knew this was only the beginning of a very awful, tedious case. He couldn't even imagine what it was going to be like for JJ and Garcia on the receiving end of an angry man's displaced fury.


	3. Chapter 3

"T-they're looking for us, right? The boss man and everyone? They're coming, right?" Garcia asked JJ, needing some sort of reassurance. The darkness of the room was making her confused on how long she had been down in the cement dungeon of hell. Nothing had happened yet though, it was just her and JJ sweating out all the water in their bodies. Wherever they were, it was hotter than hell.

"Of course, Pen. There is no doubt in my mind that they are looking for us right now. Not to mention, I'm sure your chocolate love bunny is raising hell looking for you." JJ replied, trying to cheer her best friend up. Honestly, JJ wasn't sure if they team even knew they were missing. She had been on the phone with Hotch, but it wasn't a crime to lose signal or your battery to die. In all actuality, they probably weren't looking for them at all, and wouldn't be until Monday morning.

Garcia nodded, feeling better at JJ's words. JJ wouldn't lie to her. How could she be so stupid? Of course the team was looking for them, and they would probably be there any minute. They are some of the smartest minds in the country, why was she worried at all? Her mocha thunder would bust through that door any minute, and she would finally tell him how she felt about him. Well, she did that on a daily basis, but not in a serious way. Derek Morgan needed to know exactly how she felt about him.

Garcia was beginning to get lost in her own, precious thoughts when she heard the door open in the front corner. The intruder flipped on a light switch filling the room with light and her heart started racing. She couldn't help but whimper. Whatever this guy wanted, it wasn't going to be good.

"Hello, Penelope. Jennifer. How are ya'll feeling?" A cold voice echoed throughout the room.

JJ took a deep breath, knowing she had to keep herself under control. Garcia needed her.

"Hello." JJ replied, her tone hard and unwavering. "My head hurts like a bitch. Would it be too much to ask to get some some advil?"

The man's voice that was at the other side of the room started getting closer as he spoke. "Oh, Jennifer, I expected this attitude from you. Let me tell you now darlin', when I'm finished, you will learn to treat me with respect."

JJ gave a very unladylike snort. "I highly doubt that."

The man was now standing directly in front of JJ and Garcia, but she couldn't get a good description of his face. He had a the hood from his sweatshirt covering his head and large sunglasses. He had obviously been taking some notes out of the unibomber's book.

"Why can't you be a good little girl like our dear Penelope?" He asked, brushing a hand against Garcia's cheek causing her to jerk away. "Tsk, tsk Penelope, that is no way to treat me."

JJ watched as the man gently traced the outlines of Garcia's face while Garcia was overcome again with tears. JJ couldn't bear seeing her best friend like that. If this guy harmed Garcia in any way more than he already had, she probably wouldn't leave there the same person. If they got to leave at all. JJ knew at that moment as she watched Garcia break under his touch, that under no circumstances could she let that man hurt Garcia. Even if it meant sacrificing herself. She needed to draw his attention away from her.

"Since you seem to know us so well, why don't you introduce yourself? And please don't tell me you're the unibomber, although your resemblance is uncanny." JJ snapped.

The man laughed again. "Catty little thing, aren't you? You're team knows me as the avenger, so why don't you just stick with that?"

"The Avenger?" JJ asked, her sarcasm not hidden in her voice. "Aren't you a little old for comic books?"

The man immediately dropped his hand from Garcia's face and made himself just mere centimeters away from JJ. "This is going to be your last warning, show me a little respect or pay the consequences. I hate to tell you this darlin', but you are going to be stuck with me for a week. At the end of that week either you will walk out of here alive with your team, or you will leave in pieces in my garbage bag. Frankly, I pick the latter."

"A week?" JJ asked, doing her best to mask the fear in her voice. "Our team doesn't need a week, you overcompensated."

"Oh, sweet Jennifer. You are going to be a nasty little pill I can already tell." He shook his head, but smiled. He leaned in close to her face, placing a kiss directly on her lips. She jerked back abruptly, spitting on his face in the process.

She saw the vein popping out in his neck, and based on his heavy breathing, she was aware she royally pissed him off. She wasn't a profiler by any means, but she could take a pretty good educated guess what kind of guy this was. And well, it wasn't giving her much hope.

He took his sunglasses off and wiped the spit from his face. JJ stared directly into his eyes, recognizing him. She didn't know who he was or where he was from, but she knew she knew him. He gave her a wicked, tight smile and backhanded her across the face, the smack ringing in her ears.

JJ didn't even whimper, she just tried to ignore the sting and continue staring at his eyes. Where had she seen those eyes before?

"Continue to play tough all you want Agent, but it's only a matter of time before I break you, you can count on that. I'll be back in the morning with your breakfasts, I hope you ladies have an appetite." A murderous grin flashed across his face and he exited the room, leaving the lights on.

"Jayje? Are you okay?" Garcia asked, wishing she could reach out and grab onto her best friend, but the chains only allowed her minimal movement.

JJ put on a smile and nodded. "I'm fine, Pen. Don't worry. It's just a sting, nothing damaging.

Garcia furiously nodded her head, trying to reassure herself that JJ was fine. JJ wouldn't lie. Not at a time like this. She closed her eyes for a few moments trying to regain composure. JJ was staying so ridiculously strong and she could at least try to do the same.

"Pen?"

"Yeah, gumdrop?"

JJ took a deep breath. "If what he said is true, then the team is looking for us. Hold on to that, okay? We might be here for awhile, so just keep remembering that the team is looking for us. Keep your thoughts positive, it is the only thing that's going to get us through this."

"What's he going to do, Jayje? Why does he want us?"

"I honestly don't know. If I had to guess, I would say revenge. He is upset about something, and he called himself the Avenger so.. that's my best guess. If that is true, it's probably going to get rough for us, so whatever you do Pen, don't piss him off, okay? As hard as it's going to be, just play into whatever he wants you to. Be the perfect prisoner. It will go easier for you. And if by some lucky chance, we have a opportunity to run out those doors, run and don't look back. Even if I'm still chained to this wall, leave me and go get help. Promise me." JJ said, defiant and hard with her words.

Garcia's eyes widened at JJ's request. "I- I can't just leave you here. I won't."

"Promise me, Pen! If one of us is able to get free, then we need to go find help. If the chance arises, we need to take advantage of it. Our best chance of survival is getting help. Promise me, Pen. Promise me you will run."

Tears leaked out of Garcia's eyes as she nodded. "I promise. But I also promise that I will come back for you. I will."

JJ gave her a small smile. "I know Garcie, I'd come back for you too."

* * *

Hotch winced as he saw their unsub touching Garcia's face. He knew there probably wasn't anything sexual to their kidnapping, but he didn't like his hands on his team all the same. He knew they were watching and he was just taunting them. He wanted a reaction from them.

Dave shook his head in disgust. "I can't see anything on this guy. Nothing stands out. He is 6'1, about 220 pounds. I can't get anything significant on him."

"I don't understand how we can't trace his computer connection. How does he just bounce the signals from satellite to satellite like that?" Hotch asked, determinedly.

"I don't know, Hotch. I just don't know." Rossi replied, feeling defeat already. "Isn't Reid like a genius? Maybe he could read their lips?"

"SPENCER!" Hotch yelled, towards the door, not willing to walk the short distance in risk of missing anything on the screen.

"Yeah?" Spencer asked, breathlessly as if he had sprinted up the stairs to the war room.

Rossi pointed to the screen. "Can you work your genius magic and try to read their lips? We need to know what they're saying."

"I'll give it a shot, but I don't know." Spencer said, sitting down in the closest chair, watching the screen intently. "Okay, okay, uh, JJ just said something about a week, and how he overcompensated." Spencer paused and watching the screen again. He couldn't see the unsub's face so he was at a loss with him.

"Oh, that bastard," Rossi said, as he watched him lean into JJ's face. His grip tightened on the pen he was holding. He continued watching, and couldn't help but smile just a bit when he saw their normally in control media liaison spit in their unsub's face.

"He took his sunglasses off!" Hotch exclaimed, seeing the glasses in the unsub's hand.

Rossi slammed his hand down on the table. "Look, JJ recognizes him! Look at her face! She knows him!"

"Okay, okay, this is good." Hotch said, excited they were getting somewhere. "It must be som-"

The room got quiet as they watched the man give JJ a hard smack across the face. The tension and fury in the room could be detected by the most oblivious person. It was bad enough seeing their teammates captured and chained to the wall, but it was a completely different level seeing them physically harmed.

"That son of a bitch." Rossi growled, as he watched their unsub exit the room.

Hotch hung is head in disappointment. He didn't have a good reason why yet, but he automatically blamed himself.

"Okay," Reid began, watching the screen intently again. "JJ is telling Garcia she is okay. And uh, that the team is looking for them and to hold onto hope. I think." Spencer said, rubbing his neck with the back of his hand. "She is talking too fast it's hard to get it all."

Hotch nodded. "You're doing great Reid, just keep going."

"Um, now she is telling Garcia to.. to.. not piss him off. Be the perfect prisoner. And to run if they get the chance, and not stop. Even if she has to be left behind. The best chance of survival is to run and get help." Reid finished, sadly. He knew what it was like first hand to be held against your will, and he had a bad feeling this was going to go a bit like something he experienced. He couldn't explain what he was feeling. He obviously cared for JJ and Garcia both, but something was different. He was feeling a lot more than he should.

Hotch rubbed his temple with his fore fingers. "You get what JJ is doing, right?" He asked, looking at Dave and Reid.

Reid look confused, but Rossi nodded angrily. "She is preparing, Garcia. JJ knows that her fate is sealed, so she is going to try to protect Garcia. She is going to act out and piss off the unsub, so he pays attention to her. She is hoping that Garcia will get the chance to escape. She is sacrificing herself." He said, darkly.

"What?" Reid asked, his voice going a pitch higher than normal. "Why is she doing that?"

"Survival." Hotch said coldly. "She doesn't think they have a chance, so she going back to her training. If one distracts the unsub, than the other has a better chance of escape. She is trying to save Garcia."

"But.. what about JJ?" Reid asked, his voice more shaky than he expected.

Rossi clapped a hand on Reid's shoulder. "Don't make us tell you the answer to that, son."

**A/N: Thank you so much for the reviews! I didn't know how ya'll would like this story and was kind of iffy about it! But now, I'm glad I posted it! Thanks!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** Let's all take a minute and laugh about how dumb I am for misspelling the TITLE of the story. I was so ashamed when I saw I spelled ALWAYS as AWAYS. What a major **FAIL**. I have fixed my blonde moment, and wish that you don't hold it against me, haha. **Thanks for the reviews**! Glad ya'll are liking itttttt!:) I'm uploading this quick, so ignore my REOCCURRING grammar issues, it will be fixed tomorrow!

"Nothing!" Emily yelled, throwing down her keys and files on the table in the war room. "How can a crowded bar see absolutely nothing?" She plopped into a chair tiredly, and glanced at the screen, feeling almost like she had failed her two best friends.

Derek Morgan came in quickly after Emily, looking just as distraught as she was.

"Nobody remembered seeing anything?" Rossi asked, finding that hard to believe.

Morgan laughed. "No, they do remember Garcia. Apparently her blue streaked hair and pink fishnets were memorable, but they don't remember seeing anything helpful. The security cameras aren't actually in working order either, they are more or so there for the fear of it all."

Hotch shook his head in disgust. This was turning out to be a real clusterfuck, and two of his team were in danger and he couldn't do anything about it.

"What's been going on with them?" Emily asked, nodding towards the screen. She noticed both Garcia and JJ were sleeping as close together as they good, their feet touching, probably for comfort. She couldn't imagine being in their position.

"You don't want to know." Rossi said, glaring at the screen again.

Morgan took his face in his hands, wishing all of this was a bad dream. "Actually Rossi, I do want to know, why don't you share?" He asked, sounding as tired as he felt.

Hotch sighed. "We saw the unsub. He had his face covered with sunglasses and a hood, but by the look on JJ's face, it was definitely someone she recognized. He talked to them briefly, and got a bit close to Garcia, so JJ distracted him. He ended up kissing her, and she spit on him, which evidently pissed him off and he slapped her. He hasn't been back since." The Unit Chief said, his voice emotionless and disconnected.

"Do we know anything else?" Emily asked.

"Not really." Rossi answered, dejectedly. "Reid has been able to catch a bit of conversation by reading their lips, but it's nothing helpful. JJ is pretty much telling Garcia that if she has the chance, get the hell out and don't look back. JJ is going to try to keep the attention on her so Garcia doesn't have to suffer through and hopefully will find a way out."

Morgan groaned. "This cannot be happening."

Reid walked in, sighing and looking exhausted. "This poem doesn't have any special meaning, Hotch. It means exactly what it says. He obviously wants revenge. We probably killed one of his family members or friends during a case. He is blaming it on us and its just a simple plot for revenge. He doesn't expect us to find the girls at all, he just wants us to suffer and panic. The poem wasn't a clue at all. This guy is definitely sadistic and won't hesitate to kill them."

Hotch looked at his team and felt like a failure of a leader as he saw the fear spread across all their faces. As Reid so subtly put it, the girls pretty much didn't stand a chance. He was planning on killing them no matter what. He needed to regain control of his team and this situation. He needed to get their media liaison and technical analyst back.

"Listen up." Hotch said loudly, trying to keep his voice steady. "This isn't a question of if we find them, it's a question of when we find them. We will bring them back home, don't doubt yourself or your abilities to find them. We need to get some sleep, but I don't want this screen going unwatched so we need to take this in shifts. Morgan and Reid, take the first shift and look through every single case in the past, uh, five years. Put aside ones that resulted in death and ones that JJ or Garcia were prominent in. Also, do it in here so you can keep an eye on the screen at all times. In six hours at eight, we will switch." Hotch saw the determination in Emily's face to work through it all, but they weren't going to be used to anyone half asleep. "This isn't up for debate. We all need rest. Six hours." Hotch said dismissively, leaving the room in a hurry. He needed a minute alone to collect himself.

* * *

JJ woke up suddenly to the sounds of piercing screams. She pushed herself off of the hard floor and blinked furiously, trying to let her eyes adjust to the light. After a few moments, she unfortunately remembered where she was and turned to see why Garcia was in such a panic, praying she wasn't about to see the "Avenger" doing something unspeakable.

Luckily, it was a nightmare.

"Penelope! Penelope! Come on, PEN!" JJ shouted over Garcia's screams, trying to awake her from her nightmare.

Garcia abruptly shot up and looked around in utter confusion and terror. She pushed her glasses up on her face, and stared at JJ with a look of defeat. JJ hated seeing that look on her normally boisterous friend's face.

"Pen, it was just a dream." JJ said with a comforting tone.

"A dream?" Garcia said, looking at her best friend as if she was crazy. "It wasn't a dream, Jayje! We're here! It wasn't a dream."

JJ sighed, wishing she had something to say to soothe her friends fears. If she was being honest with herself, she was terrified. Quite possibly more scared than Garcia. The tears and screams were building up, and she didn't know when she would crack, but she knew she would eventually if they actually were in the room for a whole week. It was hard enough keeping it together for the hours they had been there already, but a whole seven days? There was no way.

"Pen, they are looking for us. They won't rest until they find us, I know it. Trust them, P."

Garcia shook her head, trying to remain composure the best she could. "What is wrong with you JJ? I mean, how are you not crying or screaming or trying to claw your way out of the chains? This isn't some federal exercise. This is real life! Our lives could be over in a matter of days, why aren't you more afraid?"

JJ wanted more than anything to simply hug her friend. The human contact would be comforting for them both. "Because, I know the team is coming. I know that Morgan would go to the ends of the Earth to find you. They won't leave us behind, Pen, I trust them. I'm holding on to that small ray of light. You should too."

"It's not that easy. I keep thinking that, that I'll never see Derek again. Or I won't ever get married or have kids or electronically ruin somebody's life ever again! There is so much I still want to do Jayje. And this," she said, gesturing around them, "is killing me inside. The waiting is driving me insane. What does he want? What is he going to do with us?"

JJ let out a heavy sigh. She didn't have these answers. She had absolutely no good news to give her panicky friend. She had nothing. Not to mention, she didn't think the team would find them. There was something about the guy that made her think they didn't stand a chance. He was playing a game he didn't think he could lose. Their fates were sealed, and he was just playing for revenge.

"Garcie, take a breath, and calm down. Push your negative thoughts out of your head. I need you to think really hard, have you ever seen that guy before, our unsub? Does he seem familiar to you? His eyes maybe?"

Garcia looked at JJ horror struck. "You think we know this guy? Did you recognize him?"

JJ shrugged. "I think so. Something about his eyes seemed so familiar. I just can't place him."

"I didn't see his face, Jayje. I couldn't look at him." Garcia said, hanging her head down. "I was too scared."

JJ gave the blonde technical analyst the best comforting smile she could muster. "It's okay, Pen. We will be just fine."

* * *

Reid and Morgan had files spread around them, but they were too busy watching the screen. What Morgan gathered from the situation was Garcia was having a nightmare and JJ was doing the best to talk her down. He would give anything to have a speaker in that room.

"Reid, did you get any of their conversation."

He nodded, but didn't respond. He got the gist of what the girls were saying, and he didn't want to repeat it. He knew it would not only upset Morgan but send him into a rage.

"And?" Morgan asked, impatiently.

"Well, Garcia had a bad dream, and JJ was just trying to comfort her. Garcia wanted to know how JJ was remaining so calm, and she said that she knew the team was coming. She wasn't going let herself panic because we are supposed to be coming, Morgan."

Derek narrowed his eyes at Reid, knowing he wasn't saying something. "What are you not telling me, Reid? Give it to me straight."

Reid sighed. "Garcia mentioned she was scared she would never see you again."

Derek took the coffee cup he had in his hand and threw it with every ounce of energy he had against the wall, not even flinching when coffee and glass splashed across the war room. He felt like his heart stopped beating for a moment. One of the most important women in his life was facing a death, and she was worried about not seeing him again. He shook his head, wishing he could tell her everything was going to be okay.

"Anything else you left out?"

Reid grimaced. "JJ told her it would be okay because she knew you were going to the ends of the Earth looking for Garcia."

Derek closed his eyes and left out a heavy sigh. "I'll find you baby girl, don't worry, I'm coming." He muttered to no one in particular, just reassuring himself.


	5. Chapter 5

After waking up to Garcia's nightmare, JJ couldn't get herself to go back to sleep. She was sweating profusely due to the lack of air flow in their new prison which made it even harder to get comfortable on the cement floor she was supposed to sleep on. She wasn't aware of what time it was which made her uneasy. The man said he would be coming back with breakfast, so maybe she could guess-timate the time frame when he came back.

The problem was she didn't want him to come back. She could still feel the sting on her cheek from his hard smack to her face. Granted, she did provoke him, but she needed him to keep his attention on her. She knew if it came down to it, Garcia could be strong, but she didn't want to even go there. Garcia wasn't trained for this. She was their computer guru goddess, not a capable, qualified agent. In all honesty, JJ wasn't feeling all that capable or qualified, but she wouldn't let that show. She had to remain hard and unbreakable even if it killed her, and in reality, it probably would.

JJ pushed all the negative thoughts out of her mind and focused on their captor's eyes. What was is about those damn eyes that were so familiar? She didn't think she had met the man before, but his facial features were just too familiar. Maybe she knew someone in his family? A son maybe? Or father? Maybe the team put away his father? She shook her head in frustration. She had no logic behind her guesses, because that's exactly what they were, guesses.

She desperately wished she was Reid at that moment with his unwavering memory. If he looked into those eyes, he would have known exactly who that man was or who he was related too. She winced at the thought of Reid. What if she never saw him again? She would actually miss all of his random statistics and facts. She would miss Hotch's expressionless face and how him and Emily pretended to not notice their attraction for each other. She would miss their inevitable wedding that was bound to happen one day. She would never hear Morgan and Garcia's playful flirting with each other and never see them actually admit their true feelings. Rossi would never have the chance to ask her out again, promising to make her most desirable dreams come true. She always played it off, thinking he was joking, but she knew he was serious. She would miss every single one of them.

"Jayje?"

JJ snapped her head towards Garcia's direction, hoping she was okay. Her voice just sounded so broken, it pierced JJ's heart.

"Yeah?"

"I decided that when our team comes barreling through that door, I'm going to tell my hunk of chocolate love how I feel. That's the very first thing I'm going to do." Garcia said, her broken voice filled with a tint of determination.

JJ couldn't help but smile. Even at their worst moments, they were managing to keep calm and stay connected to the real world. "Pen, I think it's about time. I mean, watching ya'll dance circles around each other is funny and all, but sometimes, you just need to bite the bullet."

Garcia nodded and sat up against the wall. "I think so, too."

Their brief moment of ease was soon interrupted by the opening of the door again. JJ silently screamed in her head when she saw their kidnapper approach. He wore the hood and sunglasses again, and the evil smile plastered on his face was enough to make anyone go running for the hills.

He set down a plastic tray between them, filled with toast and eggs. Also on the tray was two styrofoam cups of water. "Breakfast, ladies." He said proudly, as if he just set down some gourmet meal.

Both JJ and Garcia looked at the food in disgust. They were both definitely hungry, but taking food from him seemed weak. They didn't want his food. For all they knew, it was probably laced with some drug that could knock them out or kill them.

"I would eat if I was you." He said, looking between them. "Ya'll are going to need your strength."

Garcia looked to JJ for approval. If JJ said don't eat it, then there was no way she was going to. She was trusting JJ to tell her the right thing to do.

JJ gave her a small nod and looked back at the man. "Do you expect me to eat eggs with my hands?" She snapped angrily, sticking her nose up in the air. Honestly, she couldn't wait to grab a handful of those eggs and shove them in her mouth, but she needed to play her role. She needed to let him know, she wasn't going to break, she wasn't weak, and she was going to be a hell of a challenge to deal with.

The man laughed. "Jennifer, this isn't the Ritz. If you want to stay alive, then you will eat. It's as simple as that."

JJ shoved the tray closer to Garcia. If the food was laced with sedatives, then one of them needed to be awake. They should probably take turns eating the meals. Garcia looked at JJ questioningly but she just nodded. "Go ahead, Pen."

The man sighed and shook his head. "Why do you insist on being difficult?"

"Why do you insist on dressing like the unibomber?" JJ spat, with a lot more confidence in her voice than she felt.

Their kidnapper growled as he squatted down next to JJ. He put his mouth to her ear and whispered, "Little girl, my patience is running thin with you. I can make your team squirm just as well without you. Don't tempt me."

JJ couldn't stifle the shutter that overtook her body at that moment. His voice was raspy and he was way too close for comfort. When he called her "little girl," it made her think of Dave because that's what he normally called her when he was trying to be authoritative. She blinked back tears at the thought, and rubbed the goosebumps off her arms.

His devilish laugh sent a shiver down her spine. "What's wrong, Agent? Are you a little scared?"

JJ took a deep breath and plastered a smile on her face that she normally reserved for the media during press conferences. "Not in the slightest."

"Somehow I doubt that." He said, smiling.

JJ looked over at Garcia who was simply fingering the toast on the tray he had brought. She was starving, no doubt about it, but she just couldn't bring herself to eat. The thought of eating his food made her sick to her stomach.

The man jerked the tray away, the water splashing on the floor in the process. "If you don't want to eat, that is fine!" He snapped, shaking his head at them. He mumbled something about them being ungrateful and threw the tray on the wall, food littering the floor.

Garcia gasped at his angry outburst. This apparently made him happy. He got close to Garcia, and brushed off a stray tear running down her cheek. "Are you scared, Penelope?"

When Garcia didn't answer, it only seemed to piss him off. "You have no respect! You had no respect for my brother either!" He then punched Garcia, squarely on her cheek, yelling some pretty heavy curse words in the process. She was out cold before her head even hit the ground.

JJ looked at her best friend in horror. That was exactly what she had wanted to avoid in the first place. She didn't understand what was happening. Why did he say Garcia had no respect for his brother? This was about the guy's brother, but who was his brother?

She watched in disgust as the man traced the hem of Garcia's skirt with his finger. JJ couldn't let anything else happen to her Garcia, she wouldn't be able to live with herself. JJ didn't know what the hell she was talking about, but she decided to take a chance, needing to get his attention away from her friend.

"You're brother was a coward. He didn't deserve any respect. He was worthless!" She was talking blindly, but it seemed to have done the trick. He snapped his attention quickly to JJ, growling as he approached her.

"What did you just say, bitch?" He spat, pulling her up to her feet by her throat.

She coughed as she felt her windpipe being close to crushed. She closed her eyes, as water started to rise up in them.

"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?" He bellowed, as she felt the heat of his voice on her face. He loosened his grip a bit so she could talk.

"I said," she barely choked out, "that your brother was-"

Before she could even finish her sentence, she felt his hand connect with her stomach, knocking the breath out of her. She fell back onto the ground, her butt meeting it hard. She winced in pain, not positive on what hurt worse. Her eyes were closed tightly as she was trying to ignore the pain until she was jolted suddenly. He was pulling her back up to her feet.

"Don't you ever, and I mean ever, say a word about my brother. He was a fuckin' great man. Next time you do, I swear it will be the last words you ever say." With that, his fist connected with her nose, blood pouring out if it within seconds. She fell back onto the floor, this time, her head hitting it with a thud. The pain was unbearable, and she tried her hardest to stay awake. She didn't want to be any sort of passed out around this man.

He shook his head as he watched her whimper on the ground. "Can you imagine what your team is thinking of you right now? I bet they are watching thinking about what a weak FBI agent you have proven to be. Fuckin' pathetic." He shook his head and spat angrily on her.

He slammed himself out of the room, his anger obviously boiling.

JJ laid on her side, staring mindlessly around the room, trying to find something to focus on other than the pain that was currently overtaking her body. She kept staring around the room, trying to name all fifty states in alphabetical order. She needed the pain to go away. She looked around the floor at the wasted food and then at the blank, meek walls.

"Alabama, Alaska, Ark- no, Arizona, Arkansas.." She mumbled to herself, wishing there were ceiling tiles to count. It wasn't until Idaho that something finally caught her eye. Was she seeing things? She winced as she tried to push herself off the ground some. She concentrated and looking harder at the wall opposite of her. Where the wall met the ceiling, she could see a blinking, faint red light. They were being videoed.

She shuttered at the thought, thinking how sick this guy really was, until it dawned on her what their kidnapper had said.

_"Can you imagine what your team is thinking of you right now? I bet they are watching thinking about what a weak FBI agent you have proven to be."_

The team! The team was watching them! They could see them! She let herself smile for a brief moment, letting this little discovery put some hope back in her heart. She wasn't exactly sure that the team was watching, but why else would he have said that?

She let herself get excited, and tried to awake Garcia. She was growing more and more frustrated with the chains that kept them from touching, so she did the best she could with her voice.

"PENELOPE! WAKE UP! COME ON, PEN, WAKE UP!" Garcia stirred a bit, but didn't awake. JJ sighed, wanting to be able to share this bit of good news with her best friend. She knew that this camera could somehow help them. She couldn't be too stupid though because she knew their captor was watching her every move, but she could somehow get a message to the team. Then again, she didn't exactly have anything helpful to say.

She sighed, and leaned up against the wall, trying to think of something to say. She didn't make anymore direct eye contact with the camera, not wanting to give herself away, but she wanted the team to know she knew they were there. She needed a plan.

An idea clicked in her head, one that she would thank Reid for later. Without looking at the camera, she said slowly and clearly, "I miss my brother, too."

* * *

To say the three agents currently sitting the war room were distraught, was the understatement of the year.

Emily couldn't compartmentalize anything anymore. After watching Garcia get knocked out cold, then JJ being choked and beat, she had tears running down her face. Her two very best friends were on that screen scared to death, and she couldn't do a damn thing about it. All she could do was watch. She hated feeling so helpless! They needed her, now more than ever, and all she could do was simply watch.

Hotch knew his breaking point would eventually come soon if the images on the screen got any worse. He barely held himself together when they watched Reid take ungodly amounts of torture, and he was doing his best to do the same as he did then, but he was fighting a losing battle. The anger and sadness in him was going to become too much to bear soon. He turned away from the screen, not caring to look at Garcia passed out and JJ laying in her own blood. It was a picture he wanted to forget, but knew he would always remember.

Rossi handled himself a lot differently than the rest of the group. While Hotch silently let his emotions build, and Emily nonchalantly cried for her friends, Rossi flew into a rage. Anything he could get his hands on in the room ended up either broken or thrown into a wall. Chairs were turned upside down, papers were littered across the floor, and glass from the three coffee mugs on the table were now sprinkled across the room. He couldn't grasp the fact that some guy was pissed off about a case, so he decided to take it out on two of the most innocent team members. He couldn't wrap his head around it.

Reid walked into the room even though he was supposed to be on his way home. He was tired, no doubt about it, but he wouldn't be able to rest knowing JJ and Garcia were somewhere close, barely hanging on.

"Reid, you need to go home and get some sleep." Hotch said, agitated. "You aren't going to be any help to them half conscious. We will ca-"

"Wait!" Emily said abruptly, wiping the tears from her face and ignoring the fact she just interrupted Hotch. "Look at JJ!"

Hotch, Reid and Rossi turned to the screen, confused on what Emily was seeing.

"What, Prentiss?" Rossi growled, watching JJ simply stare up at them.

Hotch slammed his hand down on the table, feeling a bit of hope since the women appeared on the screen. "She is looking directly at us. Look!" Hotch said, excitedly. "She knows she is on camera."

Rossi shook his head. "Why is that good? She doesn't know it's us that's watching her, she probably thinks its the unsub."

"Reid, what is she saying?" Emily asked, leaning closer to look at the screen.

He studied JJ's lip movements for a moment and shook his head. "Well, that doesn't make sense. I don't think I got it right."

"What did she say Reid?" Hotch asked, hoping for a miracle.

"Well, she said that she misses her brother too." He said, confusion plastering his face. "But I think I might be mistaken because JJ doesn't have a brother, she is an only child."

Rossi shook his head and clapped a hard hand on Reid's shoulder. "Reid, I don't I give you enough credit and I sure as hell don't give JJ enough credit. I think she just gave us our first clue."

Emily furrowed her brows and stared at Rossi like he was crazy. "What are you talking about?"

Hotch nodded, a small smile actually showing on his face. "In these files," he said, gesturing to the mess on the table, "we need to look for someone that was killed during a take down, and left a brother behind." He sighed, feeling a small wave of relief. JJ knew they were watching and she was trying to help them. After twelve hours of the girls being missing, they were finally taking a step in the right direction.

**A/N:** Thank you** so much** for the reviews! Love it! Also, for later in the stories when pairings become prominent, I'm still at a crossroads with JJ. I have two people for Spencer and two people for Rossi. That got me no where, LOL! I'm trying to leave it open for either of them until I get a more opinions on what ya'll want. So, readers, be so kind and let me know. **Team Rossi** or **Team Spencer? **:):)


	6. Chapter 6

As hard as JJ tried to avoid it, she couldn't stop glancing at the camera every so often. Even though she couldn't see the team, she felt strangely safer and closer to them knowing that they could see her. She was hoping they understood her "clue" about missing her brother. She got the idea from Spencer when he was being held prisoner by Tobias Hankel. He had repeated a bible verse, intentionally getting it wrong, which was impossible for Reid to do. His quick thinking led them to his location and saved his life. JJ was hoping for the same outcome, even though she didn't exactly give them a case-cracking clue, it was still something.

Her next plan of action was to start antagonizing the man about his brother. His brother was obviously the reason her and Garcia were there, so, if she could get more information from him, maybe she could pass it along to the team? It was a long shot, especially because she wasn't even one hundred percent positive the team was watching, but she had to keep faith in something. And at that moment she had faith in only a handful of things. That camera, her team, and Penelope Garcia.

JJ knew Garcia was scared out of her mind, but she also knew when push came to shove, Penelope Garcia could hold her own. The situation wasn't ideal and yeah, terrifying as hell, but she knew without a doubt, Garcia would be able to pull through this. She didn't question her for a second.

She turned to look at her best friend who was still out cold. The so called "Avenger" didn't hold back when he struck Garcia in the face. Whatever happened to his brother, it obviously put him in a rage. Now if she could only figure out who he is or who is brother was, this could maybe be over a lot quicker than she thought.

* * *

Morgan walked into the conference room three hours before the shift change. If Hotch really expected him to go home and sleep when his girls where in trouble, well, then his Unit Chief was seriously delusional.

"Where we at?" Morgan asked, as he walked over to the screen, getting a better look.

"Garcia is sleeping and JJ is staring at us." Emily said nonchalantly, while pouring over files. "We also got our first clue."

Morgan whipped around, staring at them in surprise. "Well? What the hell is it?" Why this wasn't the first thing they shouted when he walked in was beyond him.

"Whoever this guy is," Hotch started, pointing at the screen, "is seriously upset over the justice given to his brother. Our best guess is he was either shot during a take down or arrested. We are going through cases, looking for any that match that."

Morgan sighed. That wasn't much of a clue. He was sure if he asked Reid, he could get a statistic like sixty-three percent of the population have male siblings, but he didn't want the little hope he had to diminish. "Why do you guys think we are looking for an unsub with a brother?"

"JJ told us." Reid said simply, like he and JJ just chatted on the phone or something.

"What do you mean JJ told us?" Morgan shouted, looking around the room in surprise. "I'm on the team too here, care to share or what?" He knew he was being snappy and rude, but at this point he didn't really care. What he did care about was the two blondes on the screen and he wanted to know what the hell was going on.

Rossi sighed. "Damn it Morgan, can't you see we're trying to work here? You want a play-by-play? FINE! The unsub came in, brought the girls food, they didn't eat it, he punched Garcia hard enough to knock her out for.." Rossi glanced at his watch then turned back to Morgan, "three hours and counting. JJ started doing her stupid ass antagonizing routine, which led to her almost strangulation and a few mighty painful looking punches. Then, JJ figured out there was a camera in the room, and for whatever reason, assumed that we were watching. She gave the clue about the brother, and now we're here. Any other questions or can I keep looking for the possible bastard that has two of our teammates captive?"

The tension between Morgan and Rossi at that moment was almost scary. Morgan had veins popping out off his neck and Rossi had stood up, looking ready to attack the younger agent. Emotions were running high and unfortunately, most of the emotion was complete anger.

"That's enough!" Hotch said, standing up, moving between the two men. "Both of you need to take a step back and calm down. We all care about JJ and Garcia, not just you two. This is not the time or place to do this. You can fight another day, but right now, JJ and Garcia are on borrowed time. Either jump in and help or leave. I don't care which because I don't have time to babysit." The Unit Chief yelled, looking disgusted with both of them.

Rossi huffed and fell back into his chair, mumbling something along the lines of "arrogant bastard." Morgan stepped away and took a few moments to take his anger out on an innocent wall before plopping into the chair next to Reid. He pulled a few files in front of him, and turned back to the screen, looking on with sad eyes.

Emily sighed and shut yet another non helpful file. "Let's spitball for a minute here," she said, looking at the team. Do we think the unsub targeted JJ and Garcia specifically or was it just the luck of the draw?"

"Maybe it was just coincidental?" Rossi guessed, not really sure. "If I had to pick two our team to attack, of course I'll take the blonde, women non-agents. I'm not saying they are weaker by any means," Rossi quickly corrected, seeing Emily's glare, "but to an outsider, it probably seemed like his best bet."

"Rossi is probably right, if he did specifically target JJ and Garcia for revenge, we would be looking for a case that they specifically had a significant role in. Of course, I'm not saying they aren't significant on every case," Hotch said, catching the evil gaze from Emily that was just glared at Rossi now on him, "but Garcia does a lot of behind the scenes work. Not a lot of victims or unsubs or families know she is there. It just seems impossible that this man would want to target them two in particular."

Reid thought a moment and began to shake his head. "That isn't technically true. JJ is an obvious target because she is the one that everyone sees. She is the face of our team. Garcia on the other hand is harder to track down, but not impossible. If not on the internet, articles written about cases almost always have the team's names listed. Garcia is always apart of that list. It would be simple to relate her to any given case."

"Yeah genius, but JJ and Penelope don't work cases alone. All of our names would be on there. Why them two if it was specific?" Morgan snapped.

Reid put his hands up in defeat. "Sorry, I was just trying to ex-"

"Well don't! You aren't helping." Again, Morgan knew he was being a jerk, but he couldn't keep his emotions in check. He felt bad for snapping at Reid for no particular reason, but oh well.

Hotch slammed his hand down on the table, making every jump a bit. "That's enough Agent Morgan. Maybe you are too closely involved in this case? Maybe it would be best if you stepped away from it so the rest of us could do our jobs."

"You have got to be fuckin' kidding me, Hotch!" Morgan shouted, staring at his boss like he was crazy. "Too closely involved? I think we are all a little too closely involved here!"

Hotch sighed. "True, but we aren't snapping at everyone for trying to help. You need to pull it together Morgan or walk out of the room."

Morgan took a deep breath and flipped open a file to scan it. He thought Hotch was being more than unreasonable, but he wasn't about to waste Garcia and JJ's time by arguing about it. He was positive his boss would be acting the same way if it was Emily in there instead, but it wasn't the time to bring that little tid bit up. He really did need to get his anger under control and work on finding JJ and Garcia.

"Oh, here we go." Emily said breathlessly.

Morgan's head popped up and looked at Emily who was staring intently at the screen. He too, turned towards the screen and he felt like throwing up. The unsub was back, and his baby girl was awake.

* * *

Garcia finally shifted, mumbling a bit as she awoke.

"Garcie?" JJ asked, wishing she could grab her best friend.

"Ugh, JJ. My head."

JJ sighed. She wanted to kill him. She absolutely wanted to kill that stupid unibomber looking man. She knew if she had the chance, she wouldn't give it a second thought. "I know Pen, but just try to think about something other than the pain, it will fade eventually."

Garcia moved into a sitting position against the wall. She rinsed her mouth with her saliva, spitting the red mess onto the ground. "Gross." She said in such a disgusted manner, it made JJ laugh.

"Not funny, angelfish." Garcia said, with a grimace on her face. "I hate the taste of blood. It tastes like pennies in your mouth."

JJ tried to stifle another laugh. "Remind me on another day to ask you why you know what that tastes like."

"Trust me, you don't want to know. It was a bad experience." She spit again, and turned to look at JJ. "Oh my goodness! Jayje! What did he do to you? You look, so.."

JJ rolled her eyes and smiled, trying to play it off. "Beautiful? Hot? Scrumptious? I know I look good, you don't have to tell me."

In all honesty, JJ knew she probably looked a little bit worse than rough. She could feel the difference when she touched her hands to her cheeks. The left side of her face had to be two times bigger than her right side by far. Not to mention, she was sure she had an impression of that man's hand around her neck.

"I promise Pen, it's better than it looks. Anyways, forget about it, I have good news."

"Is that possible?" Garcia asked, looking at JJ with sad eyes. "I mean, I don't think any news is good news when we're trapped in a place like this."

JJ sighed, understanding her logic. "True, but just bear with me. Don't look right now because it will give us away, but at the front of the room, about seven feet from the right side of the door is a camera. And I'm almost positive that the team can see us. So, naturally, this means I have a plan."

JJ was thankful when she saw Garcia's eyes light up just a bit. "You really think they can see us?"

She nodded. "I'm pretty sure. So, when he comes back in here, we need to get him talking about his brother because whoever he is, is the answer to this whole mess. And if the team figures out the identity of this guy, they can get a location and we can get the heck out of here."

"Okay my blonde little brainiac, that sounds like a good plan, but how do we get him tal-"

Garcia snapped her mouth closed as soon as she heard the door open. She took a deep breath and put on a brave face. JJ just gave her a little bit of hope, and she was going to do whatever she needed to, to get them both out alive.

JJ watched as the man walked in, and she noticed the left the door open. Hopefully it would be a reoccurring habit in the lucky event that one of them got unchained. He approached them this time wearing a trucker's hat and large aviator sunglasses.

"I considered bringing you ladies lunch, but since you were so ungrateful the first time, I decided not to waste my precious time."

"You know, I don't understand why you are so mad at us." JJ said cautiously, not wanting the pain of his fist again, but knowing she needed information. "It's not our fault that your brother is.." Technically, she didn't know where his brother was. Was he incarcerated or dead? She didn't want to screw this up.

"Is what?" The man barked, his hands tightening into fists.

"In the ground." JJ said, hoping she was right, and if she wasn't, she could probably twist it either way.

The man advanced towards JJ, and she did her best not to cower back. She really didn't want to get hit again, she didn't think her face could take it, but they needed help. She needed a clue.

"Yeah, actually bitch, it is your fault. And trust me when I say, I will make you pay for what you did." The man snarled, his breath hot on JJ's face.

She shrugged. "You really shouldn't give me all the credit, it was more or so a team effort. All of us at the BAU knew your brother was scum, and we just wanted to help clean the city. We like to think of ourselves as public servants."

She gritted her teeth together and balled her hands into fists, getting prepared for the blow she knew was coming. Luckily, it wasn't bad as the morning's hits, but it still hurt just the same. She blinked back the water in her eyes, wanting a response from the man. She needed more.

Garcia, not sure how to help, just worked off JJ. "Yeah, the BAU is a seven man team. JJ didn't single handedly take down your brother, it was the whole team. It wasn't any one's fault except his own."

The man snapped his attention at Garcia, surprised she actually opened her mouth. "No, it was your fault. You did this to him! You and Jennifer! Your team and your little friend here can thank you for the position you are in today. But don't worry, I am fully aware about you're so called team effort. They will get theirs too, don't you worry. I think the failure and loss they feel when I'm torturing and killing you both makes me pretty even with the team, don't you think?" He face filled with a satisfactory smile as he continued. "As they watch me cut you up into little pieces, enjoying every moment of it. Yes, I think that makes me and your team pretty damn even."

Garcia's face paled as she listened to the man. Something about getting cut up into little pieces made her lose her voice completely. She glanced towards the door, wishing her chocolate knight would rush in at any moment, ready to wisk her away back to the castle known as the BAU.

"You know, right before your brother died, he was crying like a coward. It was pathetic. I had to control my laughter it was so sad." JJ said, smiling. She knew she was pretty much signing her death warrant, but if the team found them in the end, it would be worth it. She knew the man was fuming and she knew she was about to see the full extent of his anger.

The man gave her a tight smile and turned around, exiting the room. JJ let out a sigh of relief and looked towards Garcia who was smiling too until the door opened again. He walked back into the room, carrying a metal chair and keys. He set the chair in front of them, facing towards the wall with the door and camera. He then, walked back to where the pipes where, unlocking JJ's locks. Her hands were still cuffed, but she was free to move around.

Before she could even consider moving, he grabbed her by her long blonde hair and dragged her to the chair, then, hoisted her up so she was now sitting. She was considering her next plan of action, estimating the distance it was to the door when she felt a cold blade at her neck. The man was standing behind her with his arm wrapped around her chest, his hand holding a knife at her throat.

So much for the run and escape plan.

"Didn't I tell you, you would regret it if you spoke another word about my brother?" He whispered in her ear, his hot breath giving her goosebumps.

"I don't recall. I've hit my head a few times since then." JJ said, feeling her pulse nearly beating out of her neck.

He gave a cold laugh, making JJ want to scream. She could hear Garcia's strained cries behind her, and she wished she could do something more. JJ looked up at the camera, almost giving it a goodbye look. Was he about to slit her throat? Probably. This was it. Her plan had failed. She had failed. All she had done was leave Garcia to fight alone. She mouthed an "I'm sorry" to the camera and closed her eyes.

After a few brief moments, the blade stayed steady at her neck to her surprise. Maybe he wanted her to wait it out? She wished he would just hurry up and do it already. As ironic as it sounded, she was waiting impatiently for death. The waiting was the worst part.

**A/N:** Really happy with the response I got from the last chapter. Also, I don't know how, but we ended up **tying** again for Rossi and Spencer. We went from 2 to 2, now we are at 8 to 8. I must be the tie breaker. Boo. I guess I'll figure it out when I get there! Thank you for your comments and I hope you enjoy the chapter.


	7. Chapter 7

The team sat utterly horrified in the briefing room as they watched the events take place on the screen.

"She just said she was sorry." Reid said quietly, wondering why she was apologizing to them. If anything, they should be apologizing to her and Garcia, the team couldn't find them and now they were going to die. JJ did the best she could. He felt a pain rise in his chest, and he did his best to swallow it back down.

"He is going to kill her." Emily said, watching the screen in some sort of daze. "Hotch, he is going to kill her." Her hand found his under the table, and she squeezed it tightly. She didn't care what he thought or what anybody else in the room thought. She was about to watch her best friend be murdered, did anything else really matter anymore?

Hotch had to turn away from the screen for a minute. He couldn't bare to see any of his team in such an ungodly predicament. He was holding himself solely accountable. He was supposed to be their fearless leader. He was supposed to have all the answers. He was supposed to be able to keep his team safe. He failed his team and he failed himself, and now he was going to have to watch an innocent woman he grew to love, be murdered in cold blood.

Rossi was out of his chair, pacing around the room, glancing at the screen every three seconds. He couldn't sit still, not when JJ had a knife at her throat. Why did she have to be so damn stubborn? Why did she have to play hero? She just had to antagonize that bastard! Then, she apologized to them, like she had done something wrong! He wasn't even going to get the chance to tell her what a brilliant idiot she was being. Rossi made a vow to himself that he would find that man holding a knife to her neck, and kill him with his bare hands. The consequences be damned.

"What is he waiting for?" Morgan growled, watching the screen. He prayed for a miracle that this guy was just trying to mess with their heads. Hoping he was just trying to make them sweat and squirm, all for his enjoyment. He said they had a week for crying out loud, not sixteen hours. They needed more time, they just needed more time.

* * *

"Are you scared, Jennifer?" The man asked, still standing behind JJ with a knife to her throat.

JJ considered a cheeky remark, she really did, but it really didn't seem wise at that very moment. The blade was digging into her skin and she could already feel the blood trickling down her neck. She decided not to press her luck. If he hadn't slit her throat already, he was probably just trying to play mind games.

"Yes."

He lowered the knife as an icy laugh exited his throat. "So I guess you aren't the brave agent you pretend to be, eh?"

She tried to restrain from saying the next comment that came into her mind, but she couldn't help it. It was like her brain had no control over her mouth, and it just happened.

"I'm braver than your dead brother, that's for sure." She winced as she said it. What had gotten into her? Hell no, she wasn't brave at all! She was so scared she thought she was going to wet her pants. She was surprised she hadn't yet, being that her bladder was overly full and she was scared out of her mind, but whatever.

She was surprised she didn't find the knife back up at her throat, but found his hands on her left hand instead. He held up her hand, palm open, facing the wall, almost to show the camera her hand. JJ didn't know what he was doing, but she was positive it was going to hurt.

"If we are going to spend the next week together, you are going to have to stop with your snide little comments. I will not tolerate you bashing my brother. He wasn't a coward. He was a fucking brave officer of the law and you are going to pay for your filthy lies." He spat, sending a shiver down her spine.

She tried to push the thoughts of her impending doom out of her mind as she looked back up towards the camera. "COP." She mouthed, hoping they were getting the message. She wasn't sure how much longer she could keep up her charade. Her pain tolerance wasn't much at all.

"LEAVE HER ALONE!" Garcia cried from behind them, not being able to hold in her tears any longer. "JUST LEAVE HER ALONE!"

The man turned around, loosening his grip on JJ for just a second to tell Garcia she better shut her mouth or she was next. Luckily, that one second was all JJ needed, she saw her exit and as much as she didn't want to leave Garcia behind, she had to make a run for it. She would come back for Garcia, she would, but she had to get them help first. Or, find some kind of weapon she could defend them with.

JJ pulled out of his loosened grasp and started her sprint to the door. Her legs were a bit wobbly due to her lack of leg movement lately, but she pushed through it. She had to get them help. When she made it through the door, she wasn't prepared for the flight of stairs leading up to the ground floor. She could hear the man closely behind her, yelling all sorts of obscenities. She ignored his close proximity and concentrated on throwing herself up those stairs. If she could only reach the top.

She was on her second to last step when she felt her legs fly out behind her. JJ wasn't fast enough. She fell onto the stairs with a hard thud, the right side of her face smacking into the hard stair. She lost consciousness for a split second, but fought to stay awake. The man laughed wickedly, and dragged he slowly back down the stairs, making sure her face hit every single step on her way down.

Garcia watched in horror and disappointment when their captor drug JJ back into the room by her feet. She had to put her hands over her mouth to stifle the scream that was trying to erupt from her throat.

The man pulled JJ up and sat her back in the chair, smiling at her failed attempt to escape. "Tsk, tsk little girl. That was a big mistake."

JJ wasn't coherent enough to give him a reasonable answer. She felt like she couldn't move her face. Technically, she couldn't really feel her face at all.

The man picked back up her hand as he had done earlier, positioning it to face the camera, almost like she was waving or trying to give a high five. She had no idea what he was trying to do, and at that moment she didn't really care. She was too out of it at that moment to really care about anything.

"I'm going to enjoy this Jennifer." The man said harshly, as he bent her finger back with a crack, and her piercing scream filled the room.

* * *

Reid threw up on the ground next to him. He couldn't hold it down any longer. Watching their unsub drag JJ into the room was bad enough, but this, this was worse. He was thankful he couldn't hear the scream she was emitting because her face was awful enough. He closed his eyes, not being able to watch the screen after he bent back her second finger. It was just too much.

Morgan nearly ground his teeth down to nothing as he watched the screen. He was fuming. He watched on as JJ screamed in horrific pain as their kidnapper broke her fingers one by one. He looked at Garcia in the background, as she sobbed hopelessly for her best friend. How had it come to this? How did this become their lives? Any hope he had slowly diminished as he watched the unsub break her final finger on her left hand. They were never getting their girls back alive.

"Oh, Jennifer." Rossi whispered to himself, as he watched JJ fight through the pain she was feeling. As soon as he saw JJ thrown back into that chair, his blood ran cold. It's quite possible his heart stopped beating for awhile there. It was awful watching somebody going through that much pain, but when it was somebody you knew and loved, well that was a whole different story. He felt his chest tighten as the tears slid uncontrollably down her face. He felt so damn helpless. He would give anything to save those two women, anything. Instead, he got to sit safely at the BAU, watching them slowly meet their end.

Hotch took a deep breath and tightened his hand around Emily's. She remained quiet the whole time, but he could hear her rushed and heavy breathing. He was almost worried she might be suffering some sort of panic attack. He glanced over at her and caught her gaze, never before seeing her eyes so dead or cold. This unsub wasn't only hurting JJ and Garcia, but he was killing the whole team.

He tried to push his emotions aside, knowing that the only thing they could do to help was find the guy. "Okay," Hotch said, standing up, gaining the heartbreaking attention of the room. "I know we're on edge and I know what we just saw was... painful, but we have got to keep going. We need to be strong for JJ and Garcia. It's hard, but we have to keep moving. JJ just gave us another clue, and we owe it to them to figure it out."

Emily let out a heavy sigh and nodded. "JJ said cop. So either our unsub is a cop or his brother was. We should get Kevin to run all cases involving cops."

"You okay, Reid?" Hotch asked, watching as Spencer slowly lifted his head up from between his knees.

He slowly nodded, avoiding looking at the screen at all costs. He couldn't look again, he just couldn't.


	8. Chapter 8

JJ laid motionless on the floor, blankly staring at the wall. She avoided staring at her hand which was burning with pain. The pain in her hand completely overtook the hunger, thirst, and headache she was feeling. Garcia had tried to ask if she was okay a few times, but JJ couldn't even open her mouth to speak. She just needed to sit completely still. Everything was better when she wasn't moving.

Garcia was more worried than ever. Ever since their captor tossed JJ back on the floor, she hadn't moved or spoken. Garcia had to look over at her every few minutes just to make sure JJ was still breathing. Garcia glanced up at the camera, mentally asking the team where the hell they were. How long had it been? Had it been days? It sure as hell felt like days. She was starving and thirsty, and began to wish the man would bring another tray of food and water, she wouldn't hesitate this time.

Even though the team was watching, she wondered if they really were coming. If they were, wouldn't they have already rescued them by now? Wouldn't she be safely in Derek Morgan's arms if they knew where they were?

She looked back at the camera sadly, a feeling of dread washing over her. The team wasn't coming. They were just watching. Her and JJ weren't going to be rescued. They were going to die in their cement prison, for a reason they didn't even know. Her lip began to tremble, but she refused to let anymore tears fall. She had cried enough for a lifetime, and she was done. She would not shed another damn tear.

"Stop it, Pen."

Garcia jumped when JJ's strained voice filled the room. "Jayje? Are you okay?"

JJ's whole body shook as she nodded and frowned at Garcia. "I know what you're thinking, it's written all over your face. They ARE coming, Pen. They are."

"Then why aren't they here, already? If they knew where we were, they would have been here by now!"

JJ sighed. Honestly, she knew the team wasn't coming. If they knew where they were, she knew they would have already been rescued. This was just a waiting game. Their kidnapper wanted to torture the team by making them watch helplessly as her and Garcia were killed. They had seen unsubs like this before, it wasn't the first time. It wasn't unheard of. She was just hoping this unsub was different, hoping he forgot to hide some of his tracks or something. Of course, they couldn't be that lucky. It was up to them to save their own lives.

"I have a plan." JJ said, now in a whisper in case the man was listening. "It isn't ideal, and it's going to hurt, but I think it can work." She tried to push herself off the ground so she could face Garcia, but her body wouldn't allow it. She barely made it a few inches off the ground before her arms gave out underneath her.

Garcia winced. "JJ, just be still." She said a silent prayer for JJ then went back to focusing on the matter at hand. JJ said the plan wasn't ideal and it was going to hurt? She had a feeling she wasn't going to like this plan at all, but it was better than waiting for death wasn't it? She would take a little pain over the end of her life any day.

"Spill it, blondie." Garcia said, trying to sound more positive and upbeat than she felt.

"Next time this so called "Avenger" comes back in here, I need you to piss him off. Cuss at him, spit in his face, talk crap about his brother, I don't care how you do it, just make him mad. He probably is going to smack you around a bit at first, so I need you to stay strong and conscious. Keep your mind focused on something like Derek or puppies or a new computer or something."

Garcia looked at JJ like she was crazy. "I don't understand how that's going to help us."

JJ sighed. She didn't want Garcia to have to do this, but JJ was running out of ideas. She had come close to dying a few minutes ago, six days earlier than their kidnapper had promised. They didn't have time on their side and instead of trying to give her team clues about their unsub, Garcia and her had to save themselves.

"You're going to keep upsetting him until he unchains you and puts you in that chair." JJ said softly, nodding in the direction of the metal chair that sat front and center in front of the camera.

A look of horror overtook Garcia's face and JJ quickly tried to calm her down. "P, just listen a minute. Once he unchains you and you're sitting in the chair, I need you to piss him off one more time. Say something incredibly awful about his brother, and when he hits you, I need you to PRETEND to be knocked out. Fall to the floor, close your eyes, and just keep your thoughts on that door. As soon as he sees you're out, I'm going to distract him every way I know how. As quickly and quietly as you can, get out of here. There is a flight of stairs leading up, and I saw daylight coming from the left side, so it's probably a window or a door. Once you get up the stairs, take a left, and find a way out. Once you are out, run Pen, just keep running until you flag down a car or go to a house and get help, okay?"

"Ja-Jayje, I can't leave you here. I can't."

JJ wanted to sit up and hug Garcia at that moment. Of course, she would have had to be being held captive with Garcia, the one who would rather die together with JJ than save her own self.

"Yes you can, Pen. You can and you will. You have to get help. I will be fine, don't worry about me. Just get out as quickly as you can, and while you're running, don't forget where you came from. I need you to remember how to get back here so you can tell the team where they can find my- me."

Garcia's eyes grew wide as she listened to JJ. "You were about to say.."

"PENELOPE. STOP! Just do it okay, I know you can do this. It's the best chance we have, heck, it might be the only chance we have. It's going to be hard, and like I said it's going to hurt, but just keep thinking about escaping and Derek and the team, okay? You need to be focused." JJ said sternly, trying to coax her best friend into an ugly task. "I know it's a lot to ask of you Pen, but we don't have a lot of options."

"Once he sees I'm gone, he is going to kill you and run, JJ. I'm not stupid." Garcia said, staring at her best friend with hurt in her eyes.

JJ shrugged. "We will just have to take our chances, won't we?"

* * *

Reid repeated JJ's plan to the team the best he could. They got the gist of her idea, and to say that none of the team liked it was an understatement. Of course, Derek Morgan was the first to voice his unhappy opinions.

"JJ has lost her ever loving mind! What the hell is she thinking? First, throwing Garcia into a pit of hurt, and even if it does work and she does get out, JJ is going to get herself killed! What the hell is wrong with her?" Morgan shouted, staring up at the screen with disgust. "She is knowingly putting both of their lives in danger! She is going to get them both killed!"

"Morgan, give it a rest! They are already in danger! They are already going to die unless we find them! Or unless they get the hell out of there!" Emily challenged, glaring at Morgan.

Reid nodded. "There is a good chance Garcia will get out, but JJ..."

"DO. NOT. FINISH. THAT. SENTENCE." Rossi yelled, from the corner of the room where he was standing alone, trying to gather his thoughts. "If one more damn person says JJ is going to die, then I'm going to kill you myself! Just shut the hell up, and figure out who the hell that guy is before our girls carry out this arrogant plan."

Hotch was at a loss for words. If he took all the emotional and personal ties out of the situation, he would almost praise JJ for her thinking. It wasn't ideal, no, but it was still a good plan. Of course, a number of things could go wrong and nothing was for sure, but it could at least save one of their lives. The only problem was, well, Hotch was emotionally and personally involved, which made him hate this idiotic plan with everything he had. Sure, getting one of his team back was great, but he needed two. He wouldn't be able to live with himself if both of the girls didn't come back.

"I think it's a good idea." Emily said, wincing as her team's eyes all stared at her with surprise and disgust. "Who's to say this guy will kill JJ? We don't know that. Hell, they could be down the street from us and we could make it to her in time. If we weren't so closely involved in this case, then we would think this was a great plan. JJ is playing her part of a smart Federal Agent, and we need to start doing the same, or we shouldn't be working this at all. We can't do anything to stop them, so get used to the idea. Prepare for the worse, hope for the best, and say a prayer to whatever God you believe in because I know JJ, and that means this is happening, whether you like it or not."

Morgan threw himself to his chair and grunted. He was not ready to watch this. Nothing could prepare him for what was next.

* * *

"Jayje, I don't know about this."

JJ winced in pain as she finally gathered enough strength to push herself up off the floor into a sitting position against the wall. If she was being honest with herself, she wasn't exactly sure about the plan either, but they needed to do something. She knew the team was trying, and she loved them for it, but it just wasn't good enough. Her and Garcia couldn't continue being sitting ducks. Whether it be then, tomorrow or at the end of the week, the "Avenger" had already decided their fate. They could either wait it out and take it with a grain of salt, or they could fight.

JJ planned on fighting.

"Listen to me, Penelope, this may be our only chance. We don't have a lot of options, but for this plan to work, you need to be confident in yourself. Don't second guess yourself and don't doubt yourself. I know you can do this P, I have complete faith in you." JJ said, trying to give her best friend a comforting smile.

"Ugh! I'm not an FBI agent like you guys! I work at a computer, at a desk, with trolls and candies and bright colors! My hair has blue streaks in it for crying out loud! I-I don't do the whole action, adventure, James Bond movie crap. My work day consists of hacking into people's lives, professing my love for Derek Morgan, and making Hotch think I need to be drug tested! I can't do the whole running, avoiding serial killers, and shooting people thing. That's not what this beautiful, all-knowing technical goddess signed up for."

A genuine smile crossed JJ's face. Leave it to Garcia to make her smile when she facing near death and her hand was broken twenty different ways from Sunday.

"This isn't exactly what I signed up for either, Pen. Do you think Spencer readily agreed to be taken and tortured by Tobias Hankel? Do you think Gideon offered up his lady love to Frank? Nobody is ready for this sort of bad luck, but we can't change where we are Pen. What we can change, is how this ends. I don't want it to end here, not for me and not for you. And I know you, and I know you don't want that either, and that is why you are going to take a deep breath, say a prayer, and get ready. This is happening, and you have got play hero. Okay? It's your time to shine, P."

Garcia nodded furiously and did what JJ suggested. She took a deep breath, said a quick, yet very detailed prayer, and mentally prepped herself to be scared to death. The next two hours were going to be the worst of her entire life.

**A/N: I'm so pumped with the response I got. Thank you for the reviews/alerts/favorites. I love your opinions and ideas! You guys are absolutely great! Hope you like the chapter!**


	9. Chapter 9

JJ and Garcia sat in silence as they waited for their captor to return. JJ assumed it might be sometime in the middle of the night because of the exhaustion she was feeling, but she just couldn't bring herself to sleep. She was much too anxious and scared to even think about closing her eyes. She considered and reconsidered her plan, thinking about changing her mind. She was asking an awful lot of Garcia, and she didn't doubt that Garcia could do it, she was just scared it might turn out bad.

What if instead of smacking Garcia around a bit, the unsub killed her? What if JJ couldn't distract him? What if he just killed them both? JJ tried to push away her negative thoughts and simply hope for the best, but it was tough to think of the glass half full at a time like this. Their team wasn't coming, this was their only chance. She sighed and stole a glance at Garcia, wincing at the thought that her risky plan could get her best friend killed. She would never forgive herself if this ended badly for Garcia, never.

She didn't have the chance to consider any more possible bad outcomes because she heard the door creak open, and their captor came into view. JJ turned and looked at Garcia, giving her the best smile she could muster. "Game time, Pen. You can do this."

Garcia quickly nodded at JJ and turned back to the man approaching them, and tried her best not to pass out from fear. Penelope, you can do this, she told herself over and over again. JJ was right, it was her time to shine, her time to play hero. She could do the whole James Bond thing just as well as the others could. Hopefully. Maybe. Garcia sucked in a deep breath, and glanced up at the camera. She knew JJ wasn't positive that the team was watching them, but somehow, somewhere deep inside, she knew Derek was watching. She could feel it.

"JJ?" Garcia whispered, as the man came closer.

"What?"

"Tell Derek that-"

JJ shook her head. "Don't do that, P. Tell him yourself."

"Good morning, ladies. Sleep well?" The man asked, smirking underneath his hood and sunglasses. He took a long drag off his cigarette and turned his attention to JJ. He gave her a once a over and shook his head. "Apparently, someone didn't get enough beauty sleep last night."

JJ rolled her eyes and considered one of her cheeky remarks, but kept her lips sealed. She didn't want to steal Garcia's thunder. They needed this to work.

"Your, um, a, you're a jerk!" Garcia said, in a tone that she tried to make sound intimidating, but almost brought a smile to JJ's lips. JJ turned and gave her a pointed glare, hoping to push Garcia in the right direction. "Jerk" simply wasn't going to cut it.

The unsub laughed, and shook his head. "Penelope, now that wasn't nice. Has your blonde friend been rubbing off her bad manners on you?"

"No, Mr. Unibomber, I just don't like you. You locked me up, hurt my best friend, and made me pee on the floor. You aren't on my favorites list right now." Garcia said, giving the man a dirty look.

He laughed again and JJ let out a heavy sigh. She needed to do something to get Garcia's temper flowing. She had seen Garcia almost pop a vein before she was so angry, JJ knew she had it in her, she just needed to be swayed in the right direction. JJ was going to have to improvise a bit.

"You know, any minute our team is going to come in here and you're going to meet the same fate as your dead brother. Derek Morgan is going to take you down, and you're going to be sorry you even considered killing us. You're going to die a coward and alone just like your brother." JJ spat, trying to rile their kidnapper, and in turn, hoping he would rile Garcia.

The man was in her face so quickly she barely saw him move. He took another drag from his cigarette and exhaled the smoke into her face. "Did you not learn the first time what happens when you talk about my brother?" He lifted his foot and stomped down his heavy boot on her already broken hand, causing JJ to scream in excruciating pain.

He cocked his head sideways and smiled. "Maybe now you will learn to keep your little trap shut?"

JJ took a deep breath and did her best to suppress the sob wanting to erupt from her throat. "You're g-going to regret that. Derek Morgan is going to come in here and shoot you dead."

He sighed and shook his head at JJ. He caught her neck with his hand, and tilted it over so her bare neck was visible. He then removed the cigarette from his mouth, and shoved it roughly against her neck, causing her to cry out in pain again. "Listen bitch, you're little FBI friend Derek Morgan is never going to find either of you alive. But, since you seem to think so highly of him, as soon as I'm done with you two, I'm going to find him, and make him cry out in pain just like you are. I'm going to put a bullet in his head and I'm going to enjoy it. Don't worry, he will join you soon enough."

"Derek Morgan is more of a man than you or your brother could ever dream of being! He will find us alive and you better believe he will take you down, just like your brother. Your brother cried and whined like a little girl and trust me, the world is a whole lot better off without him. He was scum and a coward and worthless! He was a sorry ass cop and in my personal opinion a waste of perfectly good space. He deserved exactly what he got, and you deserve exactly what you're going to get. The best thing the BAU ever did was kill your sorry, pathetic, piece of sh-"

Garcia was interrupted mid rant because their captor's hand slapped Garcia so hard across the face, JJ felt like it hurt even her. The unsub pulled Garcia up by the shirt, and slapped her again across the other cheek. She whimpered in pain, but did her best to keep her eyes open and remain focused on escaping.

"You can h-hit me as many times as you want, but you and your brother are still worthless cowards."

"Oh, Penelope. Taking a leaf out of your little friend's book was not a good idea." The unsub said, shaking his head as he worked on releasing the locks on her chains.

Garcia nervously turned to JJ who nodded and gave her an encouraging smile. She mouthed a "good job" to Garcia and an apologetic stare. Garcia knew the worst wasn't over, and she was about to be in for it, but at least the plan was working. Yeah, it hurt, who was a fan of getting hit, but they were one step closer to escaping their own personal hell.

The man dragged Garcia by her cuffs over to the chair where he roughly shoved her, making her butt hit the cold metal with a thud. "Were you jealous of the attention I was giving Jennifer? Did you envy the sound of her fragile, breaking bones? Is that what you want my dear Penelope? Do you want my loving attention all to yourself?"

HELL NO, that is not what she wanted. Garcia almost wet her pants at the thought of this creepy man breaking every single one of her bones in her precious hand. As much as she wanted to tell him this, she had to play hero, right? She needed to be brave and fearless like JJ, and stick it to him.

She mustered up the most un ladylike glob of spit in her mouth, and spit it directly into the kidnapper's face. "I would rather die than have any of your attention."

The man angrily wiped the saliva off of his face and stared daggers into Garcia. "As you wish."

With one quick movement, his fist connected with her cheek, sending blood spewing from her mouth. She groaned in pain and tried to remain focused on the open door.

_Come on old girl, you can do this. Run to the door, run up the stairs, take a left and run for dear life. You have to get out. You have to be focused. You have to save JJ's life. You have to tell Derek how much you want to lick is chocolaty six pack. The door. Think about the door. Your face doesn't hurt that bad._

As the unsub struck her other cheek with his fist, it was harder to keep her thoughts focused. She was definitely lying to herself when she said it didn't hurt that bad. Who was she kidding? It felt like her face was broken into a hundred different pieces.

JJ watched in utter horror as Garcia's face lolled from one side to the other as the unsub continually struck her face over and over again. The blood surrounding them was overwhelming and JJ couldn't take it anymore. Garcia wouldn't be able to remain conscious much longer. She was surprised her best friend was even still breathing at that point.

Their kidnapper tossed his sunglasses to the other side of the room and squatted down so he was level with Garcia's face. "I'm going to enjoy every second of cutting you into pieces. You had this coming since the day you tried to ruin my brother. And your little bitch friend signed her death warrant when she put a bullet in my brother's head."

"Go. To. Hell." Garcia spat, sounding a ton more confident than she felt.

The unsub laughed, and with one final blow to Garcia's face, she was down for the count.

JJ sat in shock, not at Garcia's awesome performance and awful beating she endured, but at the kidnapper's words. _"You had this coming since the day you tried to ruin my brother. And your little bitch friend signed her death warrant when she put a bullet in my brother's head."_

JJ let out an ironic sigh of relief and stared into the camera. "So, tell me Mr. Battle, how bad does it piss you off that Jason's killer is sitting right in front of you? How much does it hurt knowing, that little ole' me, took down your brother in a single shot? Is it just eating you up inside?

The unsub abruptly directed his attention at JJ, and she was honestly afraid at what she saw. His cold eyes were now replaced with hardened anger and rage. The outcome of this plan was definitely not looking good in her favor.

The man, now known to JJ as Jason Battle's brother, quickly approached her, the fury emitting off of him giving her goosebumps. "This ends now. You want to know how pissed I am? You want to know how much hurts? Do you want to know exactly how badly his murder is eating me up inside?" He gave a low pitched cackle and sickly smiled at JJ. "Let me show you."

JJ glanced at Garcia, and felt her body relax with relief as she saw her slowly moving. Garcia was going to make it. It was going to be okay. JJ smiled back at the man towering over her and shrugged. "Do your worst, because let me tell you, if I could do it again, I would. Over and over again."

That moment was when JJ felt more pain than she ever had in her entire life.

* * *

Two chairs in the conference room were now broken due to Rossi's fury when the unsub had stomped on JJ's hand. Three coffee cups fell victim to his anger when JJ was being burned with a cigarette. David Rossi didn't do the whole "sitting helplessly and watching" routine very well. He wanted to snap that little bastard in half, and as God as his witness, if he ever got the chance, he would do exactly that.

For the first time in a long time, Emily let tears fall down her face. As she listened to Reid repeat the words JJ and Garcia spoke, she wanted more than ever to be in that room with her friends. She wanted to help them and comfort them and tell them how sorry she was. She felt so guilty sitting there in the safe proximity of the BAU, while they were in some unknown hell.

Derek Morgan couldn't stomach what he was seeing any longer. He tried, he really did, but when that man moved Garcia to the chair front and center, and started beating her face in like it was some kind of show, he was done. He had never felt so much anger in his entire life. He was watching someone he loved get brutally beaten and he couldn't do a damn thing about it except watch.

Reid's replay of the words that were said weren't much comfort either. Why was JJ so persistent in saying that Morgan specifically was coming to save them?

"Does the unsub have something against me? Could that be it?" Derek asked, turning away from the screen and staring at the team. "Why else would they single me out and say that I'm coming to rescue them?"

Emily intently stared at the screen, shaking her head. "JJ wasn't trying to rile the unsub, she was trying to rile Garcia. She needed Garcia to get angry and emotional."

"JJ's staring at the camera." Hotch said, leaning forward, wanting to catch every word. "What's she saying, Reid?"

Spencer stared at the screen in complete and utter shock. The answer of the unsub's identity was right in front of them the whole time. It was obvious and they, supposedly the best thinkers in the world, overlooked the most obvious answer.

"It's Jason Battle's brother. That's our unsub." Spencer said, feeling disappointed that he didn't catch it. They should have seen it coming.

The team sat in silence and surprise for a brief moment before Hotch sprung the team into action. "Prentiss, call Kevin and get Battle's last known address." Hotch then tossed his phone to Rossi and pulled the suburban's keys out of his pocket. "Dave, pull up the video feed through my email. When we arrive I don't want us to be surprised. We need to be aware of what Battle is doing and what weapons he has."

"Garcia's moving!" Reid yelled.

Morgan couldn't believe it. Garcia was quickly making her way out of the view of the camera and up the stairs. "Well, I'll be damned."

"It worked!" Reid said excitedly. "JJ's plan is working!"

"Worked?" Rossi bellowed incredulously. "What about the plan is working? Look at JJ, son, just look at her!"

Reid looked further back on the screen and couldn't exactly see JJ at all. The unsub was hovering over her, and the only movement he could see was Battle's fist hitting JJ repeatedly. The brief moment of success he felt was quickly taken over by failure.

"Got it!" Prentiss yelled, hanging up her phone. It's only twenty minutes out!"

"Let's go, we need to make it in ten." Hotch said, moving quickly towards the door. "JJ doesn't have much longer than that."

* * *

**Author's Note: **Thank you so much for the reviews! I am so glad you guys are liking it so much! It's my first FanFiction so I was nervous. I hope you like this chapter! I had it written and then when I clicked save, it told me I had to re-log in and I lost everything. Talk about MAD! Haha! Anyways, it's a pretty climatic chapter, so, enjoy!


	10. Chapter 10

Aaron Hotchner had never broken so many laws in his life as he drove quickly and furiously to the location of Battle's house. He briefly felt guilty for possibly putting the lives of more of his team in danger, but it was quickly over shadowed by Garcia wandering alone down some country road and JJ getting her face beat in.

"What's going on with JJ, Rossi?" Emily shouted from the back of the SUV.

"No change." He grunted, upset that his job was to watch JJ take the beating of her life. "Hotch, we need to get there now, it's- she- we.. we don't have a lot of time."

"STOP!" Reid shouted, jarring the whole team and causing Hotch to slam on his breaks. "Is that Garcia?"

Morgan jumped out of the car, stepping over Emily it in the process. "Garcia! Garcia!" He rushed over to the figure barely walking in the ditch on the side of the dirt road. He heard his name call out from her mouth shortly before she collapsed.

"Penelope!"

He was quickly at her side, feeling for her pulse. It was there, but barely. Morgan cringed as he looked over Garcia's face. It was so swollen and bruised, she was almost unrecognizable. "We have to get her to the hospital!" He yelled out to the team that was quickly approaching him.

"Garcia, can you hear me?" Hotch asked, kneeling down to her side.

"She isn't conscious, Hotch! We have to get her to a hospital now! Help me move her to the truck!" The unit chief nodded and helped move Garcia over to the suburban, trying to be as gentle as possible. By the looks of it, a number of things could be broken.

"What about JJ?" Rossi asked, staring down into the dark abyss of the dirt road. "We have to go get her!"

Morgan looked at the older agent like he had lost his mind. "Garcia is barely breathing! We have to get her to a hospital. NOW!"

Hotch knew he quickly needed to take control of the situation before they wasted anymore time arguing. "We need to get Garcia help, Dave. Back up should be close. Morgan and Prentiss, take Garcia to the hospital, and we'll wait here for back up."

"We don't have time!" Rossi bellowed, thrusting Hotch's phone back to him. "Look at her!"

Aaron Hotchner had never felt so torn or helpless at that moment. It was almost like he was picking between Garcia and JJ, and that was something he couldn't do. He sighed and felt the urge to scream. He glanced quickly at the phone, not liking what he saw. JJ was now sitting in the metal chair, unrecognizable, and slouched over. It was very possible she wasn't breathing. "Morgan, Prentiss, just go. We'll meet up with you as soon as we can."

Rossi screeched in fury, but Derek didn't care. He didn't need to be told twice. He was getting his baby girl to that hospital. Derek jumped in the driver's seat while Emily hopped in the back, comfortingly squeezing Garcia's hand and keeping a count of her pulse.

Reid knew they didn't have time to wait for back up. JJ couldn't wait that long. Instead of standing around, he needed to do something. He couldn't just leave her like that. They made a deal along time ago to always have each other's backs. They messed that up once before, and they never wanted to do it again. He refused to lose her to this. It wasn't right. She didn't deserve it.

Without warning, Reid took off down the road, hoping the house wasn't much further. He needed to get to JJ and fast. He ran as quickly as his long legs allowed, wishing at that moment he had been more of an athlete in high school.

"Reid? Reid!" Hotch yelled as he stared at the back of his youngest agent. "What the hell does he think he is doing?" He asked, turning to Rossi.

Rossi sighed. "He's got the right idea. We don't have time to wait."

Hotch watched Rossi take off running after Reid, and had a new found respect for his two team members. He glanced at his phone again, shook his head, and sent a quick prayer up above before running quickly to catch up with Rossi and Reid.

* * *

The first thought JJ had upon opening her eyes was that she was hit by a bus. That had to be it. As much pain as she was in, she had to have been ran down by a bus, or eighteen wheeler, or maybe a tank. She ached all over. There wasn't a place on her body that felt normal. She could barely open her left eye, her skin around it was too swollen. She looked around the room she was in, and it all suddenly came back to her. Her own personal cement prison.

She tried to turn around to see if Garcia was chained up behind her or if her captor was in the room with her, but her neck wasn't allowing it. She could barely move. She tried to stand anyways, but quickly groaned in pain, barely even moving from the cold, metal chair. There was no way she was escaping.

JJ's blood ran cold as the familiar face of the kidnapper entered the room again, a smile on his lips reaching the heavens.

"Jennifer, ah, awake so soon? Even that much better! You are going to want to be awake for this!" He said happily, clapping his hands together.

She stared at him, trying to focus, but she was seeing two of him. Her vision was playing tricks on her. "It-it's over. Gar-Garcia is gone. She will tell them where we are."

"Oh, I'm not too worried about her. Even if she hasn't passed out yet, she will be walking down a secluded road for miles. Not to mention, I'm pretty sure I sprained her ankle, so I don't think she will make it far. Don't panic dear, we have plenty of time to spend alone together. I know I promised your team a whole seven days, but thirty-six hours will have to do. You have left me no choice."

JJ never thought she would be grateful to hear that somebody was about to end her life, but at that moment she was. She was in so much pain all over, she wanted it to end. She didn't want to feel all the hurt she was feeling. She was welcoming death with open arms. She may have failed herself, but at least Garcia got out. Garcia was going to be okay, she had to believe that.

"Well, do it t-then. Kill me," she barely choked out.

Battle stood directly in front of her and pressed a finger to her mouth as to hush her. "But Jennifer, what fun would that be? You took my brother from me. He was my everything. So in return, I plan on doing the exact same. I'm going to take everything from you, and your silly little team is going to have to watch. If you be a good little prisoner, you will enjoy this." He said, winking and lowering his hand down to the buttons on her shirt.

It took JJ a minute to process the information, her mind was moving slower than usual, but as Battle undid the last button on her shirt, she understood. He wanted to take _everything_ from her. That included her innocence, for lack of a better term. This wasn't happening. This couldn't be happening. Why couldn't he just kill her?

Her shirt was now completely off and she sat vulnerable and shivering, even in the midst of the hot room. He stood in front of her, smiling wickedly, licking his lips. Even through the pain and fear she was feeling, she couldn't, she _wouldn't_ let this happen. She would rather live with all the horrible pain she was feeling than have him violate her in such way. As much as she hurt, adrenaline started pumping through her veins again. She didn't have a lot left in her, but enough for one last fight.

As he stood over her, working on the button of her pants, she took a deep breath, and with all the energy and anger she could muster, she brought her knee up hard, connecting with his manhood. He doubled over, his eyes wide, and fell into the fetal position on the floor, groaning and moaning in pain.

JJ tried to stand up, but couldn't hold her own weight, so she leaned onto the chair for support. She shook her head, and kicked him in the chin, sending blood gushing from his mouth. He winced in pain, and she felt a sick, triumphant smile rise to her lips.

Her short adrenaline rush didn't last long enough, and she quickly fell to the ground, her body succombing to the pain it had recently endured. As much as she wanted to lay on the floor and fall into a peaceful sleep, she knew she couldn't. Battle was maimed, but not forever. She slowly crawled over to the door, trying to will her body to move more quickly than it was. When she reached the door, she looked over at Battle who was still on the floor, but rolling around in pain. She needed to hurry.

JJ had her elbows on the second step, trying to get the rest of her body to move. Was it possible she was paralyzed? That was certainly what it felt like. She reached her arm up to grasp the wooden railing, trying to pull herself up. She could do this. She had to.

The little hope she had in herself was quickly diminished when she felt a tight hand around her ankle. "Not so fast, Jennifer." Battle coughed out, pulling on her roughly as she tried holding onto the rail with dear life.

He kept tugging, harder and harder, and she knew she was going to lose. She gripped the rail tighter, hoping for a miracle. She needed a miracle.

"FBI, LET HER GO. IT'S OVER BATTLE."

JJ's breath caught in her throat when she heard Spencer Reid's voice calling out from above. She never thought her miracle would come in the form of Reid, but she wasn't complaining. She glanced up and saw Spencer moving down the stairs towards them, his gun pointed at Battle. "LET HER GO."

Battle was surprised by the sudden appearance of the agent, but he didn't let it phase him for long. "I can't do that." He tugged harder on JJ, finally getting her to release her grasp on the rail. He started pulling her back down the stairs, despite JJ's screams and thrashing.

"SPENCERRRRR!" She cried, trying to reach for him. "SPENCER!"

He didn't want to shoot, he honestly didn't. He idea of taking someone's life was awful, not to mention, he didn't exactly shoot that well to begin with, but JJ calling out for him, well that was all he needed. He pulled back on the trigger, the loud noise jarring him even though he was prepared for it.

Reid watched as Battle dropped the hold he had on JJ, and stumble back a few steps before falling to the floor.

Reid rushed down the last few steps, falling on the ground besides JJ. He lifted up her bloody and bruised face, not even realizing he had tears falling down his own. "JJ? Just hold on, help is coming, okay? You're safe now. Everything is fine."

JJ gave him a small smile and mouthed a "thank you."

He shook his head, yet again surprised at the blonde lying in his arms. She never ceased to amaze him. First apologizing for almost dying, then thanking him for coming too late. He would never understand Jennifer Jareau.

"Is.. Pen.." She coughed out, trying to finish her sentence, but not having the strength.

Reid brushed the hair out of her face and smiled. "Morgan and Prentiss are taking her to the hospital now. Don't worry. You did good. Your clues, your plan.. all of it. You were brilliant, JJ. You saved her life, you saved your own."

"Reid? JJ?" Hotch's and Rossi's voice filled the house, sounding frantic yet determined.

"Down here!" He called up the stairs, hoping the back up was only shortly behind them. JJ needed medical attention fast. He looked back down at the media liaison whose eyes were now closed and her lips blue. They were losing her.


	11. Chapter 11

Author's Note: Let me go ahead and give you guys a HUGE apology for being a sucky updater. School and work are killing me, and I've been in the process of moving. Thank you for all the reviews and kind comments though. I promise I won't wait so long to update again! Thanks for sticking with me!

Spencer Reid wasn't a doctor of medicine, but he knew enough to know that if their back up didn't arrive in the next three minutes, it was possible he would never hear JJ's voice again. He still had her head cradled in his lap as he kept his fingers on her neck, constantly checking that she had a pulse. Her breathing was slow and shallow, but then again, at least she was breathing.

Hotch and Rossi trampled down the stairs, guns drawn, but lowered them immediately when they took in the scene around them. Hotch rushed directly to Reid and JJ's side, checking on his two younger agents, while Rossi stood frozen in place. He barely glanced over at JJ and couldn't look anymore. He saw enough. He couldn't bear to see her in that condition, it simply broke the hollow man in two.

Instead, Rossi made his way over to the unsub, silently wishing it had been him to shoot the bastard. The gaping wound in the man's chest brought a sick smile to Rossi's lips. Battle deserved everything he got and more. He reached down to check his pulse, just to make sure it was nonexistent, but he was surprised to find a faint beating of Battle's heart.

"He is alive." Rossi said, turning back to look at the members of his team.

Hotch immediately stood up and tossed a pair of cuffs to Rossi. "Cuff him and put pressure on his wound."

Rossi caught the cuffs with one hand, but didn't move to put them on Battle. Instead, Rossi removed his gun from his holster, contemplating his next move.

"Dave, don't." Hotch said, intently watching his one time mentor. "Cuff him Dave, do this right. You don't want this on you conscience."

Rossi stared down his boss, considering his words. He was right, he wouldn't want the death of a man on his conscience, but, he looked down at JJ's mangled body and wanted justice. For her. For Penelope. For the team. He didn't want to arrest Battle. He wanted to beat the tar out of him with his own hands. He wanted to feel and hear Battle pleading and begging for his life. Rossi wanted to end Battle in the most painful way. He wanted to destroy him.

"Rossi." Reid said, trying to get his attention. He nodded down towards the figure lying in his lap.

Rossi looked down at JJ who had one of her eyes open, staring him. "Don't do it." She whispered, a tear running down her face. "Don't."

JJ went unconscious again, leaving Dave, Hotch, and Reid speechless. If anything, they expected JJ to want to shoot Battle dead. Reid let out a heavy sigh of relief as he heard sirens approaching. Everything was going to be okay.

Rossi hung onto JJ's words as he reholstered his gun and bent down to cuff Battle. Rossi wasn't sure why JJ had such an effect on him, but at that moment, he didn't want to disappoint her. That was the very last thing he wanted. She just lived through hell, the least he could do was grant her wishes.

"Down here!" Hotch yelled up the staircase as he heard footsteps enter the small house. "We need a stretcher now!"

"Hotch?" Reid said, quietly. "I can't feel her pulse anymore."

* * *

"Can no one in this damn hospital tell us what is going on?" Morgan shouted, throwing his hands down on the receptionist desk. "I'm the damn FBI for crying out loud! That is a member of our team, I need some answers, NOW!" He continued, sending all the hospital personnel cowering back. "If someone doesn't come out here and tell me how she is, my shouting is going to be the least of your mother fu-"

"I AM SO SORRY." Emily said, cutting Derek off before he made a bigger jerk of himself. "We are just walking on eggshells, it has been a long night. I am deeply sorry for my partner's anger. Could we please have an update on Penelope Garcia? Please?" She asked the scared looking nurse, who was still staring wide-eyed at Morgan.

The young nurse quickly shook her head and said she would be back momentarily with a doctor and hurried off.

Emily hit Derek with a soft thump on the back of his head. "I know you are worried, but you have to calm down. The staff will be more helpful if we are calm, okay?" Emily pulled Derek back over to the waiting room chairs, where he remained silent yet fuming. He just wanted to know how his baby girl was doing. She never regained consciousness in the car, which made him a tad on the scared side. He just wanted her to wake up.

"Has Hotch tried to call you?" Emily asked him, frowning down at her phone.

Derek sighed and opened his phone. "No."

"It's been forty-five minutes.. I hope they are okay. Nobody is answering." She said, redialing Reid's number.

"Agents?" A man in scrubs asked, walking towards Emily and Derek. "You are here for Penelope Garcia?"

Derek nearly jumped out of his seat. "Yes, yes! How is she? Can we see her?"

"Ms. Garcia is doing wonderfully. She is just a little groggy because of the pain medication, but there wasn't any long term damage done. She does have a sprained ankle and will need to stay off of it for awhile. She also has many cuts and bruises along her face, but luckily, there were no bones broken. Her injuries are relatively minor, she will just experience some discomfort for a few days until her body heals itself. She is weak due to her dehydration and exhaustion. You are welcome to go back and see her, just try not to overwhelm her. Room 432"

Emily let out a sigh of relief and smiled. Pen was going to be okay. This was great news! She turned to look at Morgan who didn't even look half as happy as she was.

"Relatively minor?" Derek spat out at the doctor. "Nothing that happened to her was even close to minor!"

"Derek, he didn't mean it that why. Come on." Emily said, tugging at his arm before he physically harmed the doctor. She knew it was only a matter of time before his anger got the best of him and he blew up.

She was still trying to pull him away when the emergency doors opened and pandemonium erupted. Three paramedics rushed in shouting about a GSW to the chest. Emily's breath caught in her throat when she saw it was Battle, who was cuffed to the stretcher. Rossi and Reid were right behind them, not taking their eyes off of Battle. Doctors and nurses rushed over to help with the victim who by the looks of it, was barely hanging on. Emily knew it was wrong, but she silently hoped that he didn't make it. He didn't deserve to.

Paramedics rushed in another stretcher shortly behind them, which JJ was convulsing on. Emily grabbed onto Derek's arm so she wouldn't fall over. JJ was thrashing around on the stretcher, having some sort of seizure as the paramedics and doctors were yelling at one another. Hotch followed quickly behind them, looking worn and dead on his feet.

"Hotch!" Emily yelled, staring at him helplessly. "What's.. is.. is she okay?"

Hotch approached Emily and Morgan as Reid and Rossi came to join them.

"What happened?" Reid asked, staring at the now closed doors they had just wheeled JJ through.

Their normally emotionless boss shook his head as his shoulders slumped, looking scared. Aaron Hotcher, the BAU's Unit Chief, actually had the look of fear on his face. "I don't know. She seemed okay when we first got in the ambulance, but then they lost her. They shocked her twice and got her back, but then she started convulsing. I just don't know." He said, rubbing his hands over his face. "How is Garcia?"

"Good as could be expected." Emily reported, trying to sound strong and calm. "She is stable, most of her injuries are superficial except for a sprained ankle. We can go see her, Room 432."

Sighs of relief flooded the hospital waiting room. At least one of them was going to be okay, well, physically okay anyways.

"I'm going to see Garcia, let me know if you find out anything on JJ." Morgan said quickly as he made his way towards Garcia's room. He just needed to see her.

Reid moved to follow, but Emily held him back. "Give him a second, Reid. I think he needs a few minutes alone with her."

Rossi, Hotch, Reid and Emily stood quietly for a few moments, not sure of what to say next. What was there to say?

* * *

"Baby Girl?" Morgan said softly as he approached the side of Garcia's bed.

Her eyes fluttered open, well partly, one of them was too swollen to completely open. A small smile settled on her face, as she grabbed on Derek's hand. "I always knew my chocolate God would come to my rescue." She said, squeezing his hand tightly.

He sighed and shook his head. She never ceased to amaze him. She was honestly cracking jokes at a time like this. "Pen.. I.. Well, I'm sorry we didn't find you sooner. I.. I'm so sorry." Derek said, sitting on the edge of her bed. He couldn't help but feel guilty. If they had been smarter, maybe she wouldn't be sitting in the hospital bed in the first place.

Garcia let out a heavy sigh. "How long were we gone?"

"We don't have to talk about this now baby girl. You can get some rest and then we can talk about everything."

She shook her head. "No, how long were we there?"

"36 hours."

"That's all?" Garcia asked, surprised. "It felt like.. like days. I thought.. well.. I thought I was going to die. I thought I was never going to see you again or Reid or Emily! And then JJ, she kept telling me.. she told me you were coming Derek. She said you wouldn't give up on us. And.. and I wanted to tell you-"

Derek shook his head. "It's over Penelope. Do you hear me? It's over. You survived. Don't think about what if's and what could have happened. You won in the end, okay?"

Garcia felt tears rush to her eyes. She thought she was going to die in that place, she really did. And now, she was sitting here, breathing, it was just a bit much. She survived. She actually survived.

"WAIT!" Garcia said suddenly, trying to sit up but Derek was pushing her back down. "What about Jayje, Derek? Where is she? She.. she.. made me leave her behind! Oh my gosh! I didn't want to Derek, I didn't, but she said it was our only chance. Oh my gosh, I left her there, all alone!"

Garcia was becoming hysterical which Derek knew was not good for her health. "Shh, baby girl, it's okay. We got JJ, she is at the hospital too. You have got to calm down though, Penelope."

"Calm down? Derek! You don't know what happened in there! Jayje saved my life and I just left her behind. She risked everything for me! Oh my gosh, Derek, where is she? Is she okay? She didn't look good when I left, and.. and.. I can only imagine what he did to her after.. Oh my gosh. This is all my fault!"

Emily and Hotch walked in the room in the middle of Garcia's rant.

"Garcia." Hotch said sternly, quieting her down immediately. She loved Hotch, but that didn't mean she still wasn't afraid of her boss when he used his "work tone." She looked back at him with sad, scared eyes.

"Garcia, you did a wonderful job. None of this is your fault. JJ is being worked on right now, and if anything, you saved her life. You made it down the road two miles on a sprained ankle, you took an awful beating for her plan and you did wonderfully. You didn't leave her behind, you helped save her. You did great, Garcia, really great. Okay?" Hotch asked, as Emily smiled and nodded next to him.

"He is right, Pen. You were so brave. I, well the whole team, is proud of you." Emily added.

Garcia looked from Emily and Hotch back to Derek. He smiled and nodded in agreement. "You are a hero baby girl."

They could only enjoy the small happy moment for a minute though because just as the group started smiling, Rossi and Reid rushed into the room, breathless and fear plastered all over their faces.

"Hotch! It's JJ. She.. she.."


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: I guess you guys don't like cliff hangers? LOL! This is kind of a filler chapter, but you do find out where JJ stands. I'm thinking next chapter, Garcia is going to give her story to the team, and the team is going to fully help her understand what was happening. She is so hard to write because I can't think of quirky things to say for her! Anyways, thanks for the reviews. They were excellent. Oh and I'm thinking Rossi/JJ relationship, with a strong JJ/Reid friendship. I THINK. Still a little undecided. :)**

"SHE WHAT?" Garcia screamed, looking at the two men in the doorway. "Is she.. is she gone?" She asked, her eyes filling with water as the last word came out of her mouth. In all honesty, she really didn't want to know the answer to that question.

Rossi shook his head. "No, she is alive, Garcia."

Sighs of relief filled the room from every single person.

"Then what is it?" Morgan asked, agitated that Reid and Rossi were making them anxiously wait. "What?"

Reid shifted uncomfortably. "She went into cardiac arrest, and they- they got her back, but her brain was without oxygen for too long. She fell into a coma."

The room was quiet except for Garcia's sobs that were traveling throughout the hospital. She was crying for her best friend, her team, and herself.

Hotch cleared his throat. "So, where does that leave her? What do they expect?" He asked, his voice void of any emotion. Now more than ever, he needed to be their strong leader. He couldn't break down or show any sign of weakness. He needed to keep this team glued together.

Rossi slammed his fist against the wall. "It's a damn waiting game is what it is! A fucking waiting game! They don't expect anything! It's possible she might wake up, but then again maybe not. If she does, she may not have any memory. Her loss of memory may be permanent, or it may not. We just have to wait and see. For hours, days, or hell, maybe years! Nobody fucking knows!"

"Dave.." Hotch began, seeing more hurt in his friend's eyes than ever before. "Let's just take a breather, calm down. Getting angry isn't going to solve an-"

"Do you think I give a damn?" He yelled, not caring that everyone in the hall was now staring wide-eyed at Garcia's room. Rossi turned his attention to Reid. "You should have killed the bastard! He deserved it! You should have put a bullet right between his eyes!" He spat, shaking his head. He then glared at Morgan. "And you! You made us wait! You had to take the car! Garcia was fucking fine! You should have waited for back up while we went to go get JJ! But no, you put your fucking feelings first, you selfish prick! JJ may never wake up again, and I hope you enjoy walking around with that guilt for the rest of your life!"

Morgan's normal first reaction would be to defend himself. He would never wish any harm upon JJ. He loved her like she was his own sister, and for Rossi to accuse him of pretty much putting JJ in that coma was ludacris. He wanted to challenge Rossi, he wanted to set him straight, but he couldn't. Rossi's words hit him hard. Would things be different if he and Garcia waited for back up? Would JJ be talking and conscious? Was he really to blame?

"No." Hotch said abruptly, glaring and Dave and Derek. "I already see your mind reeling, Derek. Don't do this to yourself and don't listen to Rossi. We needed to get Garcia to the hospital, and that's what we did. There was no question about it. I wouldn't change things. We did the right thing. Don't put this on your conscience. Don't you dare." Hotch then turned to Rossi and gave him a spiteful look. "We are all upset right now, but this is not the time to place ridiculous blame on others. We are all hurting and all deeply angry about JJ's current condition, but this is nobody's fault but Battle's. If you can't handle this situation and can't be a team player, I suggest you walk out of this hospital right now."

Before Dave could answer, Spencer, who was standing uncomfortably watching the drama unfold, finally spoke up.

"Um, JJ is also in need of blood, she has lost too much. Her blood type is AB neg, which is pretty rare, so if anybody has that, or even O neg, we could use all we can get."

Emily sighed. "I'm O neg, where do I go?"

"Well, I'm AB negative, so what do we need to do?" Derek asked.

Dave snorted. "Now, you want to help? Are you sure you just don't want to cut her wires and call it a day?"

"That's it! Dave, get out of here. I can't have you bringing down this team anymore than they already are. Go sit with Battle, and don't leave his bedside. If he is in surgery, stand outside the door. Don't even think about coming close to this room until you get yourself in check. Are we clear?" Hotch said sternly, shaking his head at his one time mentor.

Rossi stared at Hotch for a moment, considering challenging him, but decided against it. He needed to get away as badly as his team wanted him gone. He couldn't fully function correctly knowing, well, not knowing how JJ was going to recover. He was an impatient man by nature, and this waiting game of "we'll see" was going to eat him up. It wasn't right and it wasn't fair. He made his way towards Battle's room, angry at the world.

Hotch rubbed his hands over his face, silently wishing that the past forty two hours had been a tiring dream. He felt so physically, mentally, and emotionally drained. "Prentiss, Morgan, go down to the blood bank. Reid and I will stay here with Garcia. Come back immediately after, and we will all go see JJ."

Morgan leaned down and kissed Garcia on her forehead and him and Emily left the room. Hotch slid into a chair on the right side of Garcia's bed and Reid leaned against the wall, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"How are you feeling Garcia?" Hotch asked.

She shrugged. "Okay. I'm high on pain meds so physically I feel as fine as Morgan's six pack looks. I would feel a ton better though if my little gummy bear was sitting here with me.

Hotch glanced at Reid in confusion, and Reid held back a smile. "She means JJ."

Hotch glanced at Garcia and gave her a small smile. He would never fully understand all of her eccentricities. "JJ will be fine, give it time. You will recover and so will she. Battle is caught and you both are alive. That is all that matters." Hotch said, sternly. "And eventually, we don't have to do it now, but we are going to need statements about what went on down there Garcia."

Garcia looked wide-eyed from Hotch to Reid.

Before she could speak, Reid tried to comfort her. "I know it's hard Garcia, but you don't have to do it now. It can wait until you're rested and feeling better."

"I know I'm just a technical analyst, but I can handle it. We can do it now. It's over, right? What I say will put Battle away, so I want to do this as soon as possible." Garcia turned and looked out the window, drifting off into her own thoughts. "Battle.. I still can't believe it. That man is still trying to kill me from the grave."

Hotch shook his head. "You, under no circumstances, are JUST a technical analyst. You are an important member of this team. And what you did in that basement, it took guts Garcia and you have a whole hell of a lot of them. You and JJ saved yourselves when the team couldn't. You shouldn't be anything but proud of yourself and the job you did. You won, you beat Battle, not once, but twice."

Hotch stood up, needing to go outside. He needed air. He meant everything he said to Garcia, but he also couldn't help feeling the failure on his part. The team, HIS team, couldn't save JJ and Garcia. His lack of leadership and skill put two of his team members in danger. Hell, it might even kill one of them. He failed.

"Sir?"

Hotch turned around before he exited the door. "Yes?"

Garcia had tears in her eyes as she spoke. "I- I.. well, I love you!" She burst into tears, but was smiling as she spoke. "You are a great boss man. The very best! We are going to be fine. My little buttercup is going to be fine. Super Agent stick up his ass will be fine. The team will be fine and it's because of you! Thank you."

Hotch stared blankly at Garcia for a moment and turned to Reid, who had a small smirk on his face. Reid didn't feel like smiling at all knowing that JJ was lying in a coma, but the look on Hotch's face was priceless. He obviously was flustered by the fact Garcia just said she loved him, and he was probably also trying to figure out who butter cup and super agent stick up his ass were. Leave it to Garcia to put a smile on people's faces in the very worst situations. Maybe it was going to be okay, just maybe.


	13. Chapter 13

"Are you ready to give us your statement?" Hotch asked Garcia, just as Morgan and Prentiss reentered the hospital room.

Garcia sighed. "As ready as I'll ever be."

Hotch nodded and gave her the best smile he could muster. He was never close with their technical analyst and wasn't sure how to comfort her or help her ease into this hard conversation, but he wanted to. He held himself accountable for her and JJ's injuries and he wanted to do everything in his power to make this as easy as possible for them. He knew Garcia telling her account of what happened was going to be tough.

Prentiss leaned against the wall next to Reid and Morgan took a seat next to Garcia's bed. He grabbed her hand and squeezed tightly. "You don't have to do this now if you don't want to Penelope. We can do this later."

"No, Derek, we need to get this over with." She gave him a weak smile and stared at him for a moment, trying to decide the best way to tell him her next idea. "And.. um.. while I do this, can you go sit with Jayje?"

"What?" Derek asked, looking at Garcia incredulously. "No babygirl, I'm going to sit here with you. I want to know."

Garcia rolled her eyes. She loved Derek, she really did, but she couldn't bear to tell the story in front of him. She knew it would hurt him almost as bad as it hurt her to think about it again. He would get angry, and she didn't want that. He looked like he had already been through hell, and she didn't want to put him in anymore pain. Plus, she didn't want to look weak in front of Derek. She didn't want him to think any less of her.

"Please, Derek. Please." She looked at him with sad eyes, begging him with the sad look on her face. "Go sit with Jayje. Talk to her. I don't care what the doctors say, she can hear you. Tell her to stay strong, okay? Please?"

Derek had no idea what Penelope was trying to do, but he couldn't stand the look on her face. She looked so desperate for him to leave, and he would rather die than put her through anymore pain. If she wanted him out of the room while she gave her statement, then so be it. "Okay, okay. Someone come get me when you guys are done."

She gave him a small smile and squeezed his hand again. "Thanks." She whispered.

Derek nodded and walked out of the room reluctantly.

"Okay, Garcia, take as long as you need. Do your best to not leave out any details and start at the beginning, everything you can remember. We were able to see most of what you went through, but we need a better account of what happened." Hotch said, in a more gentle voice than usual.

Garcia snapped her attention towards him suddenly. "So JJ was right? You guys could see us? You could see us through the camera?"

"We saw pretty much everything that went on in the basement." Prentiss said, giving her friend a small smile. "But how did JJ know we could see you?"

"Wait, wait." Hotch began, not wanting them to get ahead of themselves. "Let's just start at the beginning. Garcia, do you remember being at the bar?"

Garcia took a deep breath and closed her eyes, mentally picturing the bar in her head. "Yeah, Jayje and I were playing pool. She was schooling me of course, but we were still having fun. We were only on our second drink, so we weren't off our rockers or anything. We both noticed some guy creeping on her from across the bar, but I didn't think much of it, I mean Jayje was rocking short shorts.. it's to be expected."

"Was the guy paying attention to JJ the unsub?" Reid asked.

Garcia shrugged. "I don't know. Down in the basement, I never really saw him without the hood or hat. I saw him once without the sunglasses, but I was half out of my mind at that point. I mean, I didn't even know it was Battle's brother until we got here and you guys told me."

Hotch nodded. "Okay. What happened next?"

"Nothing. Everything seemed normal. The guy disappeared after a bit, and we didn't think anything of it. I mean two girls at a bar, they are going to get looked at. No biggie. So, we just kept playing pool, and Jayje's phone rang, and it was you." She said, glancing at Hotch. "She couldn't hear you so she went outside and she told me she would be back in a minute. After about fifteen, I went to go look for her, hoping nothing was seriously wrong. She went out the closest door, which was the side entrance and it's pretty deserted. I was barely out the door when I felt something over my mouth, and I don't remember anything after that until the basement."

Prentiss sighed. "So, probably chloroform?"

"More than likely. There are various drugs on the market that can have the same affect, but chloroform is the most common used by sadistic ki-"

Hotch held up his hands. "We got it, Reid, thank you. What happened when you woke up?"

Garcia took another deep breath and continued on. "I woke up alone, he hadn't brought JJ in yet. After having a brief Penelope-Panic-Extravaganza, I remembered what happened at the bar, and I started thinking the worst. JJ wasn't with me, and I thought.. I thought.."

Tears rushed to Garcia's eyes and Prentiss came over to the bed and grabbed her hand. "It's okay, PG. You're doing great."

Garcia nodded and blinked back her tears. "I couldn't even yell. I wanted to, hoping that maybe someone would hear me, but it's like I was mute or something. I couldn't find my own voice. That's when he.. Battle.. came in with JJ thrown over his shoulder. He just dropped her on the ground like she was trash! He chained her up and that's when I found my voice. I started screaming, and he just laughed and said it wouldn't save me. He.. he.. kissed JJ and smiled and left."

"And you were already chained up?" Reid asked, still leaning up against the wall.

Garcia nodded. "He must have done it when I was still out. I don't remember. I was really starting to panic again and when Jayje finally woke up, she didn't remember anything. She was calm though, like freaky calm. It made me want to hit her or something. I thought she was delusional."

Hotch sighed. "Garcia, did he say anything? Tell you who he was or what he wanted?"

She shook her head. "No, not that time. After awhile, it felt like days, but I guess not.. um, he came back and asked how we were feeling. I didn't say anything, but JJ started being a real smart ass with him. If it was any other time, I probably would have laughed." Garcia said, staring out the window aimlessly. "He kept calling her "Darlin" and he almost sounded like a gentlemen. Ironic, huh?" Garcia asked, letting out a heavy sigh. "He then moved over to me, he.. he.. was like touching my face, you know? It made me sick to my stomach. He was being gentle and almost sweet, but it.. it repulsed me. And JJ, she just started throwing out snide remarks left and right. Telling him he looked like the unibomber and she asked who he was and what he wanted. She was giving him real hard time."

Prentiss nodded and looked at the Unit Chief. "Yeah, we were right, she was sacrificing herself. JJ didn't even want him near her."

"Too bad it nearly cost her her life." Spencer added, looking down at the floor sadly.

Garcia looked back and forth among the people in the room, utterly confused. "What do you mean? What do you mean sacrificing herself? What are you talking about?"

Hotch shook his head. "Let's keep going Garcia and we will discuss it later. Let's just get your statement out of the way first."

"NO!" Garcia said, looking just as surprised as Hotch did because she actually just yelled at her boss. "Um, sorry boss man, I mean, Hotch. I just, um, what do you mean? I have the right to know. I deserve to know."

Prentiss sighed. "Look PG, this isn't your fault at all." She said, glancing a nervous look at Hotch. "But you know JJ, she is a damn martyr until the end. JJ was trying to protect you Penelope. She didn't want Battle getting close to you, so she did the best she could to make him angry. That's why she was trying to act calm and that's why she was being such a pill. With all his anger directed at her, you would get the least of it. She was trying to save you." Prentiss said gently, giving Garcia a small smile.

Garcia closed her eyes. "When my blonde little buttercup wakes her skinny ass up, I'm going to hug her tightly, and then kick that skinny ass to Korea!" Garcia said, feeling incredibly thankful and angry at JJ. While her actions were incredibly honorable and courageous, they were incredibly stupid! She could have gotten herself killed. She almost did! The punches, the slapping, the breaking of her fingers..

Garcia slammed a hand over her mouth and looked at Emily wide-eyed. Prentiss immediately jumped off the bed and grabbed the nearest trashcan for Garcia to vomit in. She held Garcia's hair back as Garcia released bile and fluids into the trashcan. Luckily there wasn't anything in her system to really throw up.

"Are you okay Garcia?" Reid asked timidly, not sure how to handle the situation. He felt awfully out of place, not exactly sure how to help or comfort Garcia. Social situations were not his forte.

She nodded quickly. "I was just thinking.. Jayje is so... so... STUPID!" She said, looking at her teammates. "She shouldn't have done that! I could have handled it!" Garcia said, throwing her face into her hands.

Hotch patted her back gently. "It was JJ's choice, Garcia. She felt what she was doing was right, and it ultimately might have saved your life. JJ is a strong and capable agent and I'm sure that she wouldn't change anything she did in that basement."

"No!' Garcia cried, mentally chastising herself for getting emotional after she swore to herself she wouldn't. "You didn't hear her down there! When he broke her fingers, it was so awful! You didn't hear her screams! They pierced right through my heart! She was in so much pain, and now I know it was because of me! You didn't see her lying there so broken afterwards! She wasn't even the same person! She was lying on the ground, not moving, barely breathing.. it was awful. I think she wanted to die! I think she was in so much pain that she honestly wanted to die, and that's on me! It's my fault because she didn't think I could hold it together!"

"Stop it Pen. That's not it at all. You could have been calm and collected down there and JJ would have done it anyways! It could have been me down there and she would have done the same thing. Hell, she still would have tried to piss him off if she was down there with Hotch or Rossi, and I think you know that. That's how JJ is. She puts everyone before herself. This isn't your fault, and I'll be damned if you walk out of this hospital thinking it is!" Emily said, pulling her friend into an embrace. "You were strong and you made it out of there! You _walked_ out of there and went to get help for JJ. We've told you once and we'll tell you again until it sinks in, you were great. You are a hero. Don't forget that, ever."

Hotch nodded. "Prentiss is right, Garcia. JJ was in charge of her own actions, and she would have played the exact same role no matter who was down there with her. Do not blame yourself." He sighed and rubbed his hands over his face. "I think that's enough for now. Let's just take a break, and let you rest a bit. We can pick this back up later. There is no need to strain yourself right now, okay?"

Garcia nodded, grateful for the break. She needed just a few minutes to not think about Battle, that basement, or the fact that JJ was lying somewhere in the hospital in a coma.

* * *

"How is she?" Morgan asked the doctor that was standing over JJ as he entered her room. Morgan was taken aback by all the machines and wires surrounding JJ's bed. If he hadn't seen her name on the chart outside, he wouldn't even know it was her. Her face was too swollen and bruised to be recognizable. JJ's blonde hair was matted and tangled around her face and her lips were a bruising purple. Her left hand was already in a cast, and she had bags of blood hanging next to her bed. He cringed. Out of all the things he had ever seen, this was on his top five of most horrific.

"Lucky." The doctor said simply, checking her IV line. "Very lucky."

"Lucky?" Morgan asked, feeling his temper rise. Lucky was the last word he would use to describe JJ's current condition.

"Yes," the doctor said nodding, "lucky. Her scans show there is no internal bleeding, which is a miracle in itself. Based on the external bruises casing her body, we were positive we were going to find enormous damage internally, but we didn't. We were also worried about her brain hemorrhaging based on the external trauma her head took, but we also found nothing. Don't get me wrong, she came in here with a lot of problems. Dehydration, exhaustion, twelve broken bones, a concussion, severe bruising, and an incredible loss of blood is in no means a walk in the park, but none of it will be fatal. In all honesty, based on the amount of trauma she endured, she shouldn't be alive. So yes, agent, I say the only word to describe her condition is lucky. Well that or miraculous."

Derek nodded and swallowed hard. "What about this coma?" He asked, looking nauseously at JJ. "Is it possible she won't wake up? Is it possible she won't have a memory?"

The doctor sighed. "Anything is possible, Agent Morgan, but I am almost certain she should wake up in a matter of days. I think once her body rests and starts to heal itself, she will wake up in time. Her memory is up for question, but only time will tell. It's expected for her to be a bit groggy on the details at first, but with time, everything will come back to her if she doesn't remember to begin with. I am confident Agent Jareau will heal and _physically _be just as she was before with time."

Derek narrowed his eyes at the doctor. "And mentally?"

"Ah, Agent Morgan, I am not a therapist by any means, but after what this poor woman went through, how would your mental condition be? I can only assure her physical conditions."

He sighed and nodded. "Can she hear me?"

The doctor gave him a small smile. "It's not proven.. Some doctors will you tell you it's impossible that she can comprehend anything your saying, but in my personal opinion, she subconsciously can understand every word. I feel the words of friends and family bring them back to us sooner." The doctor shook Derek's hand and exited the room, leaving him alone with JJ.

Derek fell into the chair next to JJ's bed, afraid to look at her. It was that bad. Her nose was obviously broken, her face was swollen, hell everything was swollen and bruised. Would things have been different if he had waited for back up and let the rest of the team continue to JJ? Would she look this bad? Was this his fault? Did he put his personal feelings first? Did he choose Pen over JJ?

Derek hunched forward and put his face in his hands, trying to compose himself the best he could.

"I'm sorry, JJ." He began, praying that she could hear him. "I am so sorry. We should have found you sooner. We should have looked at Battle in the first place. We messed up, and you and Pen had to pay the price, and I'm just so fucking sorry. It's my fault though. I should have waited. I should have waited for back up with Pen. I was selfish. I wasn't thinking Jay, I just, well, I fucked up. You have to understand, it's not like I was picking her over you, I wasn't trying to leave you behind. I wouldn't do that, she was just there, in front of me, helpless.. I.. I'm just sorry." Derek sighed and shook his head. He loathed himself at that moment. Rossi was right. Rossi was fucking right.

Rossi stood in JJ's doorway, listening to Morgan offer the most ridiculous apology. Rossi knew it wasn't Morgan's fault. He knew that if they had gotten there ten minutes earlier, it wouldn't have made a difference. She would still be in the same condition. None of it was Morgan's fault, and he wanted to tell him. He wanted to apologize for going off on him in the first place because he had no right. But the truth was, he needed someone to blame. He was just so angry with himself for not figuring it out.. it was right in front of them. He started the BAU for crying out loud, he is supposed to be one of the greatest minds in the country, and he failed. His two teammates paid the price. Not to mention, the only woman he could see himself experiencing love again with was in a coma. He couldn't save her. He failed and he needed someone to blame, and he put that on Morgan.

Rossi was wrong, he knew he was wrong, but it didn't matter. He was in way too much pain. He wanted someone else to be hurting just as bad as him.

Instead of entering JJ's room and telling Morgan this, Rossi turned around and marched back to where Battle was undergoing surgery.


End file.
